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http://www.archive.org/details/modernmet1iodsinh00hood 



modern methods 



IN 



Borology. 



BY GRANT HOOD. 



A BOOK OF PRACTICAL INFORMATION 
FOR YOUNG WATCHMAKERS. 



1904. 

The Kansas City Jeweler and Optician, 
kansas city, mo. 






5 wo Oopies rfWelvon 

AUG i6 jyo5 

omsb <^ AAc. Nui 

I M i>l fl« fliaBBWiiP»iW ■p — iii f 



Copyright, 

1904, 

By W. S. Smyth. 



PREFACE. 



Knowing the difficulties that present themselves to 
the average watchmaker as he begins serving his appren- 
ticeship and knowing how limited the supply of knowl- 
edge he is able to find and understand has prompted me 
to write these pages, hoping the information may be 
such that it will encourage those that are discouraged, 
add renewed vigor to those who are ambitious and act 
as a warning to the ones that are inclined to be care- 
less with their work. 

My aim will be to make each subject as simple and 
and clear as possible, adding illustrations in all cases 
where needed. 

If the book is successful in helping my brother 
workmen and will bring to them some new ideas that 
will be beneficial or will be the means of enabling them 
to do their work in an easier manner, the writer will 
feel that his labor has not been in vain and will be 
well pleased. Grant Hood. 

Bradley PolytecJinic Institute, 
Peoria, III., April, 1903. 




MR. GRANT HOOD. 



^ 



\ « — u Y^—tQ 'vCinni) v u nnO" '~^ c "J") rr--iO on-iT V(in 



^m OLD AND NEW METHODS 
X^ OF MEASURING TIME. 




"What is time? The shadow on the dial, the striking of 
the clock, the running of the sand — day and night, summer 
and winter, months, years, centuries." 

The measurement of time has been accomplished by 
various means for many centuries, in fact we are unable to 
trace its origin. Doubtless the first periods of division were 
those of day and night, caused by the revolution of the earth 
upon its axis, then upon closer observation it was noticed that 
the shadows of rocks, trees, mountains and hills grew shorter 
and shorter as the sun rose higher and higher until it 
reached a certain point when the shadows began to grow 
longer and longer toward the close of day or the setting of 
the sun. From these observations the first time piece of 
which we have any record was constructed, the sun-di"' 
The first record we have of a sun-dial is about 725 B. C, 
found in II Kings XX chapter, 11th verse — "And Isaiah, the 
prophet, cried unto the Lford; and he brought the shadow 
ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the 
dial of Ahaz." 

We read of some very large sun-dials constructed of 
massive stone masonry, among them the one at Benares. 
In olden times no other methods of telling time were known, 
even these on dark or cloudy days failed them. 

The days have been divided into several different per- 
iods at various times, a decimal system was contemplated 
at one time, but the present system of twenty-four hours, 
each hour divided into sixty minutes and each minute into 
sixty seconds seems, perhaps on account of its familiarity 
to us, to be the very best possible one. 

After the sun-dials, the clepsydra was invented. This 
was a very crude affair but had some points of merit the 
sun-dials did not have, viz., that of telling time when the 
sun did not shine and also in the evening after the sun 
had gone down, 

7 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

Several forms of clepsydrae or water clocks were con- 
structed, some of them very ingenious, others very crude, 
even the best of them could not be depended upon as changes 
of temperature, different atmospheric pressures or the 
amount of water in them would greatly affect the flow. 
Some were vessels which contained water that escaped 
through small openings in the bottom, drop by drop, marks 
on the sides of the vessel indicating the hour, another form 
the water trickled drop by drop into another vessel which 
contained a float, and this, as it slowly rose, would register 
the hour on a dial. 

A very old method, used at Nepaul about the same time, 
was the floating of a copper vessel containing small holes 
in the bottom, on the surface of the water, the vessel was 
so constructed that in a certain period of time it would fill 
with water and sink. While doing so it would ring a gong, 
an attendant would empty the vessel and the process would 
be repeated indefinately. The hour glass had about the same 
principle as the clepsydra, only sand was used instead of 
water. With all of these time pieces it would be necessary 
to have an attendant to watch them closely as when the 
water or sand ran out, no more time would be registered. 

The sun-dials were the most common, and up to the mid- 
dle of the nineteenth century were in common use in nearly 
all public places and many private families had them. A 
sun-dial will not tell the time accurately in any locality like 
a watch, but must be constructed for the latitude in which 
it is to be located. It will also be correct for all places 
either east or west on the same parallel of latitude, but the 
angle of the gnomen must be chaaged as we go north or 
south from that po'int. 

To illustrate how far from correct the dials in actual use 
were, I show the photograph of one used in Western New 
York for nearly a century. On the dial is cast Lat. 40 
degrees, 42 minutes. In looking up the latitude of the place 
I found it to be about 43 degrees, 20 minutes, and 
there for years this dial had been telling the time correct- 
ly. (?) Today the family who own this dial treasure it as 
one of their most valuable family relics. They watched 
me with suspicion even while I photographed it. 



OLD AND NEW METHODS OF MEASURING TIME. 

About the queerest method of telling the hours that 
has come to my notice was told me by one of the old set- 
tlers of New York. The country was new, lack of improve- 
ments were in evidence everywhere, clocks were only with- 
in the reach of the wealthy people, yet all must have some 
method of measuring time. Their novel method was this — 




Sun Dial One Hundred Years Old. 



on the window sill of the south window were a series of 
notches cut, the shadow from the casing as it was cast upon 
these notches indicated the hours. 

Oandles were in use at one time, they were made with 
ten rings in the tallow and contained the right amount that 

9 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

it would takje just one hour tO' burn from one ring to the 
next. 

A lamp was similiarly made. A graduated glass recep- 
tacle, which contained the oil, would denote by the marks 
the number of hours consumed in burning. These methods 
performed a double purpose of lighting the room as well 
as very incorrectly telling the time. 

It will be impossible, within the scope of this article, to 
any more than allude to the many forms of clocks and 
watches that have been in use, which, being improved step 
by step, has brought us to the present state of perfection 
where it seems that there is no chance for improvement, 
yet if we could look ahead, a hundred years, I fancy we would 
see as great an advancement over the present methods 
as the present methods are over those of a century ago. 

Nothing has done more for the advancement of accurate 
time keepers than the railroads. Year by year the trains 
run faster and faster, a few seconds error may mean the 
loss of many lives, therefore the officials of the railroads 
require those responsible for the running of their trains 
to have the most perfect time pieces obtainable, and^ also re- 
quire them to be inspected often and exercise every possible 
precaution to avoid error or accidient. 

Think of running the "Twentieth Oentury Limited" 
from New York to Chicago by the aid of an old verge watch 
without even a second hand, yet in its day, it was considered 
a marvelous time-keeper. The first clocks were constructed 
similar to the verge escapement. In place of the balance 
wheel was an upright piece with two arms upon which 
weights were hung. By moving them further out it would 
run slower, or faster when moved toward the center. This 
embraces the principal of the balances now in use, as is 
seen in the movement of the timing screws. As we carry the 
weight froim the center of the balance wheel the watch will 
run slower and as we bring it nearer the center the watch 
will run faster. It follows that two balances of the same 
weight but of different diameters, the larger one will run 
more slowly than the smaller one as the mass of weight is 
farther from the center of rotaition. 

10 



OLD AND NEW METHODS OF MEASURING TIME. 

The lever escapemeat is in such, general use today in 
the best class of watches where great accuracy and porta- 
bility are required that we commonly S'peak of it as the lead- 
ing escapement. 

In later articles more detailed reference will be made to 
the duplex, cylinder and chronometer escapements. 

This subject would not be complete without mention of 
one or two of the best clock escapements. The gravity es- 
capement seems to be one of the best; we can add extra 
weight in the winter to force the hands on the dial of the 
tower through the snow and sleet or lessen the weight dur- 
ing the pleasant days of summer, yet the imipulse to the 
pend'ulum remains the same, as the motive power only raises 
the weight which gives the impulse and the pendulum itself 
releases it, thus the amount of impulse remains constant 
regardless of the motive power. 

The self-winding clock is a very ingenious piece of 
workmanship^ — it is so constructedi that it winds each hour. 
A small electric motor winds up the thin spring enough 
to run the clock for the hour, at the end of that time a 
contact is formed which starts the motor, repeating the 
operation of the hour before. 

Electricity today is in its infancy, and we may expect 
some great results from it in the near future. 




ii 





12 




TIME SERVICE OF TODAY. 



There are but few people who realize the problems that 
present themselves in obtaining correct time. Never was more 
accurate time required than at the present, when railroads are 
spending thousands of dollars in order that they may be 
able to carry their passengers long distances in the shortest 
possible time. Improvements in rapid transportation and 
fine time pieces must go hand in hand. As better and more 
powerful engines are being built to make it possible to re- 
duce the time between different cities, even so must rapid 
advances be made in the manufacture of delicate time pieces 
which will enable them to run at such a rapid rate in safety. 
Thus far, the horologists have been able to keep slightly in 
advance, and the modern watches are truly wonderful for their 
fine workmanship and remarkable accuracy. In this, as in all 
branches of industry, as soon as a demand is created for a 
better article, someone is ready to supply it. 

It was only a little over a century ago that watches and 
clocks then in use had but one hand, which denoted the hour 
only. In those day& it was an improvement on methods then 
in use and seemed to satisfy the needs of that generation. As 
more accuracy was needed, another hand was added that di- 
vided the hours into minutes. This, in time was outgrown, 
and by the aid of a second hand, the hours and minutes were 
subdivided into seconds, just as accurately as before into 
hours and minutes. Today, by modern methods, it is easily 
possible to tell time to a thousandth part of a second. 

A clock will stop, and we fail to wind our watch, it runs 
down; we ask a friend the time, or consult a jeweler's regu- 
lator, set our time piece correctly and think nothing further 
about it. Did you ever stop to think the jeweler must obtain 
his time from some source, and where he would go to get it? 
The object of this article and the following, will be to explain 
the methods adopted by the United States Government in ob- 
taining absolutely accurate time or as nearly so as it is pos- 

13 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

sible to do with modern instruments of precision. It was my 
privilege recently to spend several days in the Naval Observa- 
tory at Washington, making a study of the methods now in 
use in taking observations and transmitting the time by tele- 
graph throughout the United States. 

In the outskirts of Washington, somewhat isolated from 
the rest of the city, is situated the new Naval Observatory. 
Perhaps less is known of what takes place here by the citizens 



Fig. 2 — Lieutenant-Commander Hayden at HisjDesk. 

of Washington than of any of the Government buildings. It 
is necessary to have the building as remote as possible from 
the street railways and the rumble of the city, as their vibra- 
tions would interfere with the delicate instruments in use. 
When one has passed through the narrow lane leading to the 
grounds and climbed the hill, a beautiful sight presents itself. 
(Fig. 1.) The beautiful white stone buildings of the Naval 
Obesrvatory, with their large circular domes surmounting 
them, is an inspiring sight. Our Government here, as is the 

14 



TIME SERVICE OF TODAY. 

case with all of its buildngs, has planned them in a most sub- 
stantial manner, embracing beautiful architecture and pleas- 
ant surroundings. Prom this place comes our time. In other 
words, this is "Uncle Sam 's time factory.' 

As I entered the building, the guide took me at once to 
the office of the Lieutenant Commander, Edward Everett Hay- 
den, whom I found seated at his desk (Fig. 2), busily en- 
gaged, yet he had ample time to give me a hearty greeting, 




Fig. 3 — The Transit Instrument for Observations. 



and made me feel at home immediately. To him especially, 
and to others connected with the Observatory, I am greatly 
indebted for many courtesies and much valuable information. 
It would be impossible in two articles to explain the time 
system thoroughly, yet I trust it may give a much better idea 
of an important system that to most people is entirely un- 
known. It is commonly understood that our time is taken 
from the sun as it passes the meridian at noon. This is not 
the case, as the sun passes the meridian but four days in the 

15 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

year exactly at noon. The observations are taken from cer- 
tain fixed stars by th.e transit instrument shown in Pig. 3. The 
utmost accuracy must be used in making and setting up a 
transit. It points due north and south, and can be placed in 
any position from the vertical to the horizontal, but moves 
only in one plane. There are many fine adjustments to test 
its accuracy and errors. The building that contains the transit 
circle is made entirely of iron, a •sheet-iron covering on the 




Fig. 4 — Instrument Used for Sending Out the Time. 

outside and the inside lined with the same material, having 
an air space between. There is no way of heating the room, 
as it is necessary to have the temperature inside as nearly that 
out-of-doors as is possible, to produce the best results. The 
transit is mounted on massive stone piers, which extend many 
feet below the surface of the ground, in order to get a perfectly 
solid foundation. The fioor of this building does not touch the 
stone base at any point. In other words, the building is only 

16 



TIME SERVICE OP TODAY. 

a pi'otection from the sun and storms, the instrument itself 
standing on its own foundation. 

The eye piece of this transit contains eleven vertical lines 
or spider webs, a group of three on the left, five in the center 
and three on the right, a horizontal one crossing all of them at 
the center. At the Observatory are tables showing the exact 
moment the fixed stars will pass the meridian, and their posi- 
tion. By careful graduated circles the transit instrument is 
set at the proper angle and the person making the observation 
assumes a lying position in the adjustable chair shown and 
patiently waits for the appearance of the star. In one hand 
he has an electric button, which is connected with the chrono- 
graph, shown at the right in Fig. 5. This consists of a cylin- 
der, around which a sheet of paper is placed, the cylinder 
making one revolution every minute, and is also connected with 
a standard clock. Each vibration of the pendulum is recorded 
on the paper by a fountain pen. As the image of the star 
reaches the first vertical line, the electric button is pressed 
and the exact time is recorded on the chronograph, and in a 
like manner when it passes each of the eleven lines. The 
average is then taken of them all, which gives the exact time 
when the star passes the center line, or meridian. By taking 
several observations in one night, it is possible to get the time 
to a very small fraction of a second. Prom the record on the 
chronograph, the exact siderial time is found, and from this 
is computed a local standard time. Bach day at noon, the 
time is sent out to every city and town in the United States, 
east of the Rocky Mountains, by telegraph. The time balls are 
dropped in the principal cities along the sea coast and at the 
Navy Yards. Clocks are set to the second, and now bells are 
rung on many telephones, all by the electrical current sent out 
by the standard clock at Washington. To stand near this clock 
and see its pendulum vibrate to and fro, measuring the seconds 
of time so accurately, and to think that its vibrations can be 
heard in all cities throughout this vast land, seems indeed one 
of the great achievements of the present century. 

Pigure 4 shows the instruments used for sending out the 
time over six thousand miles or more of wire throughout the 
United States east of the Rocky Mountains. More will be said 
about these instruments in the following article. 

17 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 




18 



TIME SERVICE OF TODAY. 

Figure 5 shows the various telegraph instruments of the 
Western Union and Postal Telegraph Companies. The eight 
point relay which sends out the current that synchronizes 
the clocks, drops the time balls, etc. Lieutenant Hayden stands 
before the instruments with his hand on the lever, watching 
the second hand of the Standard Clock, which has been cor- 
rected to the second only a few moments before. At the exact 
moment the lever is thrown down, the pulse beats of the clock 
can be heard throughout the United States. The clock which 
sends out this current is corrected daily a few minutes before 
noon. It matters but little how slow or fast it is through- 
out the day or night, but for the five minutes before 12 o'clock 
it is supposed to be absolutely correct. Its corrections are 
made in a peculiar manner. Should it be slightly slow, the 
pendulum is quickened by a touch of the hand, or should it 
be too fast it is retarded in the same manner until its time 
is corrected to a small fraction of a second. 

There are many things that will vary the rate of even the 
most carefully constructed time pieces, the changes of tem- 
perature, atmospheric pressure, thickening of the oil, etc. In 
order to overcome these difficulties, the Government has re- 
cently been making some careful tests and experiments. A 
clock vault has been built underground and equipped with 
costly apparatus that will keep it at a constant temperature. 
The outer walls of the vault are made of brick; an air space 
of about ten inches is left between this wall and the inside 
ones, which are of wood, covered with asbestos. In this air 
space are placed several coils of pipes through which the 
hot water circulates that keeps the room at a constant tem- 
perature of about 80 degrees F. The water is heated by a 
small gas heater, which is automatically controlled by a very 
sensitive thermostadt located inside of the vault and oper- 
ated by electricity. The temperature will vary only about 
one-fourth to one-half of a degree. This vault is a success as 
far as constant temperature is concerned, but as the barometric 
pressure of the atmosphere affects the time of the clocks as 
greatly as the variable temperatures, this has yet to be over- 
come, and now experiments are being made, enclosing the 
clocks in air tight cases and exhausting the air, but such 
cases are diflacult to construct that maintain a vacuum. Thus 

19 



4' 




ft 
6 



20 



TIME SERVICE OF TODAY. 

far it has been only partially successful. The only way of 
its success being assured seems to be in making a large glass 
globe similar to the ones used on air pumps, and exhausting 
the air. 

This shows to what extent our Government will expend 
time and money to perfect a system that is of vital importance 
to every citizen in the land. 

The time of all places having the same longitude will 
be the same, those places east of that longitude the time will 
be latex', and those west from it will be earlier. This is 
caused by the rotation of the earth upon its axis once every 
twenty-four hours. Each city, then, must have 'its local time, 
while those cities eastward or westward must have local time 
faster or slower in exact proportion to the change of longitude, 
there being one hour for each fifteen degrees; for example, 
if we go eastward, the time will be an hour faster for every 
fifteen degrees we travel, and likewise if we go westward, the 
time will be one hour slower for every fifteen degrees we 
travel. 

For a practical illustration, let us suppose two people 
start from Greenwich which is located in longitude 0° 0', each 
intend to go around the world, one in an easterly and the 
other in a westerly direction; their watches are set alike, 
Greenwich time; as the former compares his time with that 
of the cities he passes through, he finds their time faster 
and faster the further east he goes until when he reaches the 
180° E. longitude, he finds the time exactly twelve hours 
ahead of his Greenwich time. In like manner the one who 
travels westward finds the time constantly growing slower 
than his Greenwich time, so by the time he reaches the 180° 
W. longitude, the time is just twelve hours slower than his. 
One would reach the 180th meridian on Thursday and the 
other on Wednesday, yet their watches are still the feame 
time. For this reason the captains of vessels either drop a 
day or gain one as they cross this meridian. At sea all lon- 
gitude is reckoned from Greenwich and all ships' chronome- 
ters (each vessel having two or three) are set to Greenwich 
time. I noticed while at the Naval Observatory, where all 
the chronometers of the navy are rated for many weeks be- 
fore sending them to the men of war or cruisers, that the 

21 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 




22 



TIME SERVICE OF TODAY. 

time at which they were set was a trifle more than five hours 
different from the local time of Washington, there being a 
difference of about 77" of longitude between Greenwich and 
Washington. 

As each city has its local time, which differs from other 




_ 8 — Time Ball on Top of State, War and 
Navy Building, Washington, D. C. 

cities in proportion to their difference in longitude, it woulr, 
make it very confusing to run trains on the railroads ac- 
cording to such local times without complicating matters, 
and it would be very hard to avoid serious accidents. 

23 



TIME SERVICE OF TODAY. 

Figure 6 shows the Empire State Express going at a. rate 
of seventy miles an hour, which could not be done without 
some system which would prevent accidents. 

To overcome the difficulties that were common when the 
local times were in use, a standard time was adopted in 
1883, which has overcome all of the then existing troubles 
and malces it possible to run trains as fast as any motive 




Fig. lo — The Chronograph Recorder. 

power in existence can pull them. Each year the speed o; 
famous trains is increased and as rapidly as this is done, 
the timepieces must be made to perform more closely, and 
the railroads require their men to carry a higher grade of 
movements. A watch that five or ten years ago was con- 
sidered a perfectly satisfactory timepiece would not be al- 
lowed in the pocket of an engineer today. 

Our standard time is divided into sections of 15° each, 
all places of each section having the same time. In the 
United States the meridians adopted are those of 75°, 90°, 
105°, and 120° west of Greenwich, these being 15° apart, or 

25 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

exactly one twenty-fourth part of the earth's circumference. 
It is easily seen that each 15° will represent exactly one hour 
of time. The 75° meridian is Eastern time, the 90° Cen- 
tral time, the 105° Mountain time and the 120° Pacific time. 

The time is the same at all points situated between me- 
ridians either 7%° east or west of the ones above mentioned; 

At Buffalo, N. Y., for example, when the time changes 
from Eastern to Central, you may enter the city on a train 



Fig. II — Eye-Piece of Transit Instrument for Observation. 

from the east and immediately leave for the west, and xhe 
time will be just one hour slower; this time will remain m 
use until we travel 15^ farther, v/hen our time will be one 
hour slower, etc., until we reach the Pacific coast. 

26 



TIME SERVICE OF TODAY. 

When it is twelve o'cloclv or noon at Washington (East- 
ern time), it will be eleven o'clock Central time, ten o'clock 
Mountain time and nine o'clock Pacific time. 

Figure 7. The railroads do not change their time ex- 
actly on the meridian but at some prominent station near 
that point. The map shown gives a fair idea of the differ- 
ent times as now in use by the railroads. The dark spots 
locate the cities where the government has time balls 
located. Most of these places are near the sea coast where 
the time balls may be seen from the vessels at sea. in order 
that the officers may compare their chronometers by watch- 
mg tlie time balls as they drop at noon. Figure 8 shows the 
one on the top of the State, War and Navy Building in Wash- 
ington, D. C. Five minutes before noon a signal is sent oui 
from the Observatory and the ball is raised to the top of the 
pole and held in place by a catch; during the last ten sec- 
onds before noon a switch is thrown connecting the time bail 
with the standard clock, which at the exact second of noon 
sends out the current that releases the catch and drops all 
of the time balls in the sixteen cities at the same instant. 
They drop into a large circular receptacle, slightly larger 
than the ball; this forms an air cushion which lessens the 
concussions of the fall. The diameter of these balls is about 
three feet, and they fall from fifteen to twenty feet. 

Figure 9 is a reproduction of a chart from the observa- 
tory showing how the time is sent out by the standard clock 
in Washington for the five minutes before noon each day 
and recorded on the chronograph (Fig. 10). The twenty- 
ninth second is omitted and the last five seconds of the 55th, 
56th, 57th and 58th minutes are omitted, but in the 59th minute 
the last ten seconds are omitted. During this long break, 
the time balls are switched into the circuit. 

Any one who may be at a telegraph office during this 
time may know that the minute begins after the five second 
break, and the half minute or 30th second is after the single 
break. 

In the large cities the watchmaker can have a "tickei'" 
placed on his bench connected with a standard clock of tne 
Telegraph Company which tells the minutes in much the same 
manner as just described. 

27 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

The Telegraph Companies also furnish clocks which an? 
connected by electric wires to a master clock which sends 
out a current each hour, correcting or synchronizing them; 
all clocks on that circuit being corrected at the same instant. 

Figure 11 is a drawing showing the constructions of the 
eye-piece of the transit instrument described in the last ar- 
ticle. As the star passes each line a record is made on the 
chronograph (Fig. 10). 

The beats of the pendulum of the clock are also re- 
corded so that by comparison the exact moment the star passes 
the center "spider web" can be easily computed. 

Modern methods of obtaining accurate time are as far 
in advance of those of a century ago as the modern, finely 
adjusted watch is ahead of the \erge of the same period, 
which is now a curiosity and only found in museums or in 
collections of antique watches. 

Will the century ahead of us show as great advancement? 



28 




In beginning a series of articles on modern methods used 
in horology, there is nothing that interests the watchmaker 
or that should be better understood than the proper working 
of iron and steel, yet there is no department of his work that 
seems to be more neglected. A spring will break or lose its 
elasticity, a graver will fail to hold its point, or it is impos- 
sible to obtain a high polish on another piece of steel. These 
are common effects, but their causes are not Known by the 
ordinary workman. He knows that these faults exist, but he 
does not know how to remedy them. 

The idea occurred to me a few yeai'S ago, that by the 
aid of the microscope, we might be able to study the grain 
of the steel we are using, and possibly be able to remove ex- 
isting trouble, and with that end in view, I began a series 
of experiments which proved of great value in my work, and I 
hope may be as helpful to my readers. The illustrations in 
this article are from photographs taken with the microscope 
and show various magnifications from 24 to 150 diameters. 

IRON. 

Iron is an elementary body, and is one of the most com- 
mon and useful metals. In some form, it is used in nearly 
all branches of industry. In its ordinary form, it is but of 
little use in horology, but when converted into steel, it is 
used in making the finest tools and most delicate parts of the 
time pieces used at the present day. Iron as in common use, 
is known under three names, viz., cast iron, wrought or mal- 
leable iron and steel. The watchmaker has but little to do 
with the first two, while the last, steel, he is dependant upon 
for his various tools and the construction and repairing of 
delicate time pieces, and for the making of many of their 
parts. 

I do not wish to make these articles too technical, but 
in order to thoroughly understand the processes necessary 
for the best working methods of handling steel, we must have 

29 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

an idea of its composition. But very few of our best work- 
men realize the sligtit differences that exists in a composition 
of iron and steel. Their main difference being the amount 
of carbon they contain. 

Cast iron is the cheapest and most common kind, and for 
some purposes is far superior to any other form. It is very 
brittle and a broken surface is coarse and chrystallized. Cast 
iron cannot be bent, is not malleable, and therefore is not of 
use to us except in the manufacture of tower clocks or in 
constructing large machinery. It contains about 2 per cent. 
of carbon. 

WKOUGHT OE MALLEABLE IRON. 

Wrought or malleable iron, contains the least carbon, its 
amount being about 5-10 of 1 per cent. It can be rolled into 
sheets, drawn into wire or forged into any desirable form. 
It can be made from cast iron by removing some of its car- 
bon. 

STEEL. 

The third form, steel, is one of greatest interest to us, 
and to a study of this, we will direct our attention. We know 
that if we heat a piece of steel to a red heat., and plunge it 
into water, it becomes very hard and brittle, but why it 
hardens no one seems to be able to explain satisfactorily. 
There are many theories, but these are of no great interest 
to us; we wish to know how to handle it to the best advantage. 
There are three forms of steel in use; first, natural steel; 
second, shear steel; third, cast steel. 

Natural steel is made from wrought iron by heating for 
several days with charcoal. The carbon in the charcoal unites 
with the iron, converting it into steel, but that made by this 
method is far inferior to cast steel. 

Shear steel is made by binding several bars of steel to- 
gether, and forging and welding them into a solid piece, this 
process being repeated several times. Upon being ground and 
polished, steel made by this method shows by the streaks on 
the surface where the different bars have been welded to- 
gether, and therefore is but of little use to us. Fortunately, 
however, none of this class of steel is in use at the present 
date. 

Cast steel is used exclusively for the manufacture of fine 

30 



IRON AND STEEL. 

tools and delicate articles. It is always used whenever a 
superior grade is required, yet even in cast steel, we find many 
different grades, in fact if you state to the manufacturer the 
purpose for which you desire its use, he will gladly select 
the grade most suitable for its purpose. This is quite import- 




Fig. I — Steel hardened at white heat (badly burnt). 
ant, as the kind that would make the best large tools might 
make the very poorest pivot drills or delicate pieces of 
watches. 

We must become thoroughly acquainted with the stee'. 
that we are using, and when once familiar with it, should not 
change for other brands as each kind requires its own special 
way of handling. A degree of heat that would nicely harden 
a low grade of steel applied to that of a higher grade, would 
burn it so that it would be practically ruined. From this, 
we will learn the following: The higher the grade of steel, 
the lower the temperature at which it hardens; and the lower 
the grade, the higher the temperature required in hardening. 
As we use only that of the very highest grade in our work, 
and our articles are the most delicate, we must be doubly 
careful about heating in order to prevent it from "burning." 

31 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

HARDENING AND TEMPERING. 

These terms are often misused, as we often hear one 
speak of tempering a piece of steel, when in reality it has 
only been hardened. We harden a piece of steel by heating to 




Fig. 2 — Steel hardened at bright red (slightly burnt). 

a dull cherry red and plunging it into water, oil or any sub- 
stance that will quickly cool it. 

Steel hardened in mercury, nitric acid or cyanide of pot- 
assium will be very hard and brittle while that hardened in 
oil, tallow or bees-wax will be quite hard and very tough. 

One of the most important things to keep in mind in 
heating the article to be hardened is to heat all parts evenly 
— to illustrate: We wish to harden a piece of small round 
wire and hold it in the blaze of our lamp; one side of that 
wire will be heated to a bright red and the other to a dull 
red. We know that heat expands all metals and it is clearly 
seen that the side of the wire that is heated the hottest will 
be the longest, by cooling quickly; the molecules have not 
time to resume their ordinary form but become crystallized in 
that form, the wire being the longest on the side heated the 
hottest. To overcome this trouble the wire should be con- 

32 



IRON AND STEEL. 

stantly rolled in the flame in order to heat all sides equally, 
and it is always best to plunge the piece into the oil or 
water lengthwise and do it very quickly. The oxygen of the 
air unites with the steel on its surface when heated and 
forms an oxide which in some cases is hard to remove. It 
is possible to harden a piece of polished steel without affect- 
ing its polish to any great extent. We have just learned the 




Fig. 3 — -Steel hardened at lowest possible heat (dull cherry red). 

cause of the oxide, and if we can heat the piece without its 
coming in contact with the air, we can accomplish the de- 
sired result; this may be done by heating in a copper tube or 
the bowl of a clay pipe and filling the tube or pipe with care- 
fully dried animal charcoal; then heating to a bright cherry 
red and throwing the contents of the tube into the water the 
charcoal burns the oxygen and prevents it from acting on 
the bright surface of the steel. Delicate articles are often 
hardened in this manner after which they can be tempered 
without being obliged to polish them. 

Let us now carefully examine the photographs here re- 
produced. Figs. 1, 2 and 3 were made from the same piece 
of steel, a rod 5 millimeters in diameter, in order to show 

33 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 



the effect of overheating or "burning"; the end of the rod 
was heated to a white heat; a short distance from the end of 
it was a bright red, and still further back, it was not hardened 




Fig. 4 — Wrought iron showing grain. 

at all. We have in ^his short piece of rod all stages, from the 
badly burned to the most perfectly hardened steel possible. 

The rod was easily broken at the end and showed a very 
coarse crystallized surface as shown in Fig. 1. The grain 
resembled very much that of cast iron and its brittleness was 
much the same; this represents the "burnt" steel which we 
wish to avoid and was hardened at a white heat. 

Fig. 2 was broken off at the point where heated to a 
bright red; we still have a coarse grain, but not so pro- 
nounced as in Fig. 1. It was not as brittle and required much 
more effort to break it. 

Fig. 3 was broken off at the point where it was hardened 
at its lowest temperature or barely a red heat. This did not 
break so easily; in fact, it took several blows with a heavy 
hammer to break it. We notice a great change in the frac- 
ture; the surface is very smooth, the grain beautiful and fine, 
and the coarse crystals have entirely disappeared. Is it any 

34 



IRON AND STEEL. 



wonder that delicate springs often break or that edge tools 
will not remain sharp when we can see so clearly the effect 
of overheating in hardening? 

In hardening all classes of steel, we should heat it to the 



^ _g00«fmfM, ^ 


-MMBXtZT— .l.-L--_--.!7^ ■* I ^\ 


^m 


k i 



Fig. 5 — Iron case hardened. 
lowest possible degree, a dull red being enough for most high 
grade steel; if overheated it is liable to check or crack. 

TEMPERING. 

After hardening there is a great strain between the mo- 
lecules; pieces have been known to fracture in many pieces 
days after hardening. For this reason and on account of 
its extreme brittleness, it is necessary to temper the steel, 
each piece being drawn until it is of the proper hardness for 
the purpose required. 

The common method is to polish the surface, then by 
heating carefully, waltch the oxide as it forms upon the sur- 
face. Each color denotes a certain hardness, as follows: 
1. Very pale straw. 6. Light purple. 

Straw. 7. 

Dark straw. 8. 

Brown yellow. 9. 

Purple. 10. 

^ 35 



Dark purple. 

Dark blue. 

Light blue. 

Pale blue and green. 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 



The Erst two are too hard to file and denote the right 
temper for gravers, cutters, etc. 

Three and four are about right for dies and taps. 

Five to eight will do niceiy for staffs, pinions, springs, 
etc. 

To obtain a nice even color, the utmost cleanliness must 




Fig. 6 — Steel highly polished. 

be observed, even a finger mark being sufficient to prevent a 
color that otherwise might have been perfect. 

The finer and brighter the polish before tempering, the 
better and more even the color will be. 

If we temper an article without its coming in contact with 
the oxygen of the air, no oxide will be formed; we take ad- 
vantage of this method by tempering in oil, which for some 
purposes is the most satisfactory method known. 

By placing a piece of hardened steel in a small cup of 
lard oil sufficient to cover it completely and heating slowly 
over the Bunsen burner or alcohol lamp, we soon notice the 
surface of the oil beginning to smoke; when this takes place 
our steel will be tempered to a light straw; when the oil 
smokes densely, a dark straw; when the surface ignites, a 

36 



IRON AND STEEL. 

purple; when the oil burns, it will correspond to a blue; and 
when the oil all burns up, the steel will have a spring temper. 

There is no better way of tempering case springs and the 
various small springs in the movements than by placing 
them (after hardening) in a common iron spoon, covering 
with lard oil or bees-wax, and heating until the oil or wax 
ignites and burns off, and repeating the operation in some 
cases two or three times. 

It is possible to temper more evenly in oil than in the 
open flame as the oil surrounds the piece and heats it evenly 
on all sides, while in the open flame, one side is liable to 
become more heated than the other. 

ANNEALING. 

Should we fail to heat an article quite hot enough to 
harden and plunge into water, we will be surprised to flnd 
it softer than before. This we call water annealing, and is a 
quick and useful method of making the steel soft and easily 
workable. 

Another method is to heat to a red heat and let it cool very 
slowly while being covered with some substance that is a 
non-conductor of heat, such as ashes, lime, etc. 

CASE-HAEDENING. 

In some cases it is useful to know how to convert the 
surface of iron into steel, which is called case-hardening. 
Wrought or malleable iron has a grain similar to that of a 
piece of wood. Fig. 4 shows the fracture of this metal, the 
surface being so uneven it was impossible to get all parts in 
focus while making the photograph. Should the surface of 
this iron be covered with the yellow prussiate of potash and 
heated carefully, or should it be enclosed in an iron box flUed 
with pieces of leather, horn or similar substances and heated 
for several hours, the surface would be converted into steel, 
and after being hardened, would present the appearance of 
Fig. 5, which is an ordinary small wire nail case hardened. 
This, represents only one side of the nail, the light portion 
being the part converted into steel. 

The watchmaker is perhaps as greatly interested in know- 
ing how to obtain a fine polish on his finished work as in 
anything connected with the working of steel. In a later 
article, this will be dealt with very fully. 

37 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

The utmost care must be exercised in the different stages 
not to have any of the coarser grinding materials enter in any 
way into the finer ones; this one point has been the most dif- 
ficult one in my experience to impress upon the minds of 
those just beginning. 

If the carpenter has a board in the rough and he wishes 
to prepare it for its final polish, he just planes it, then sand- 
papers it with coarse sand paper and lastly with the very 
finest, and it gradually assumes a perfectly smooth surface; 
even so must the watchmaker obtain a satisfactory polish. 
First, we grind the surface on a lap or iron grinder with 
oil stone powder and oil until it assumes a flat smooth sur- 
face. This must now be thoroughly cleaned to remove all 
traces of the oil stone powder, as should a particle remain it 
will prevent the finer material from doing its work. 

After being thoroughly ground, we should repeat the 
same operation with either crocus and oil or coarse diamon- 
tine and oil, after which it should be as thoroughly cleaned 
as before, and the final polish be given on a lap or polisher 
made of equal parts or tin and zinc. The material used in the 
final polish should be only the very best quality of diamontine 
that can be obtained. This is mixed to a thick paste with oil 
and only a small amount used on the lap, the polish not being 
complete until the oil is nearly dry on the lap. There is a 
"knack" about polishing that can only be obtained by ex- 
perience, therefore the novice must not be discouraged if he 
does not succeed the first time, but try again with renewed 
vigor, and success will surely crown his efforts. 

The eye is very easily deceived. If we can finish a flat 
surface so that it looks flat, and appears to be thoroughly 
polished, we may be satisfied, for Fig. 6 shows us that even 
with all of our pains our work is very , imperfect. This 
represents the surface of a flat piece of steel that to the 
unaided eye was well polished, yet when viewed under the 
compound microscope, presented the appearance shown in the 
photograph. In future articles, many other photographs will 
be shown, even more striking than those contained in this 
article. 



38 



, - loOifs/UOCXi ^ 

;ra^ WHEELS AND PINIONS. =..^ i 



0^ \« 



The use of a train of wheels, containing teeth, as a means 
of transmission of power dates back many centuries. It was 
in use by the Egyptians and the Romans, although their 
wheels were poorly constructed, badly spaced and the teeth 
of very irregular form; in fact, the workmanship was so 
faulty that it was impossible to transmit power without great 
loss; the motive power had to be great and the consequent 
wear would be excessive. Less than a century ago the teeth 
in the wheels were rounded up by hand; if some of the verge 
watches of that period are carefully examined the teeth of 
the wheels will show very faulty workmanship in comparison 
with the high degree of perfection attained at the present 
day. 

It will not be the purpose of these articles to show how 
the epicycloidal curves are generated or formed, as that would 
be of little use to the watchmaker, but to show him how to 
determine the correct sizes of any lost wheels or pinions, and 
also to be able to quickly tell the number of teeth or leaves in 
them. 

There are two forms of trains in common use. Simple and 
Compound. In a Simple train, the first wheel transmits its 
power to the one following it, this in turn transmits the power 
to the one following it and so on throughout the train, the 
circumferences of all of the wheels travel at the same velocity 
and each wheel turns in the opposite direction to the one be- 
fore it or the one following it. In finding the revolutions of 
the last wheel to one of the first wheel in such a train, it is 
only necessary to compare the sizes or number of teeth of the 
former to those of the latter, the intermediate wheels only 
acting as a means of transmission of power. If the last wheel 
had 20 teeth, and the first one had 40 teeth, then the last one 
would make two revolutions to one of the first. Figure 1 illus- 
trates such a sample train. 

While A makes one revolution, B would make two, but the 

39 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 



speed of the circumference of each would be the same, as 
would also that of each of the intermediate wheels. 

Should the sizes of A and B be the same, then the power 
applied to the surface of A would be exerted on the surface of 




Figure i. 

B less that wasted by friction, a force ever present and one the 
watchmaker tries in so many ways to overcome. 

In a Compound train, the kind used in watches and clocks, 
the first wheel transmits its power to a pinion following it; 
upon this pinion is staked a wheel, which in turn transmits 
its power to a pinion following it, and in like manner this 




Figure 2. 

power is transmitted to the end of the train. Each wheel re- 
volves more rapidly than the one before it, and the power 
grows less and less until a very small amount of power is 
reuired to counteract all of that exerted at the beginning of 
the train; "while we gain in speed, we lose in power," that 
rule of physics is very forcibly shown here. 

We see a man on a derrick turning a crank which turns a 
small wheel, this in turn engages a larger one and so on 
throughout the train of wheels, he is turning the crank rap- 

40 



WHEELS AND PINIONS. 

idly and by the aid of these wheels he is exerting tremendous 
power and is raising a weight many times his own; he is 
doing it very slowly, what is gained in power, is lost in speed. 
The same train is used here as in watches and clocks, only in 
this case the power is applied at the opposite end of the train. 
In an ordinary watch, while the barrel makes one revolu- 
tion the escape wheel and pinion will make 4,000 revolutions. 
Figure 2 shows a compound train as above, containing 
teeth in the wheels and leaves in the pinions as follows: 
Barrel, 80 teeth. 

Center wheel, 80 teeth. Center pinion, 12 leaves. 
Third wheel, 75 teeth. Third pinion, 10 leaves. 
Fourth wheel, 80 teeth. Fourth pinion, 10 leaves. 
Escape pinion, 8 leaves. 
To find the revolutions of the last to one of the first in 
any train, multiply the teeth in all of the wheels (working 




Figure 3. 

into pinions) together and divide that product by that of all 

of the leaves of the pinions working into these wheels, the 

quotient will be the revolutions of the last to one of the 

first as: . 

S 

80X80X75X80 8ox)^X>^X^ 

_ _ — — — = 4000 

I2XIOXIOX 8 V<?,x>q,x^x "Ss. 

Si 

In order to make this as clear to the novice as possible, 
we will consider the wheels without teeth first and think of 

41 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

tlie surfaces of the wheels and pinions as perfectly smooth 
and turning each other by friction. This, of course, could not 
be in actual practice, as their surfaces would be inclined to 
slip and the friction, the one thing we must avoid, would be 
excessive, but as we are able to show their geometrical diam- 
eters more clearly in this manner, we will do so. 

In Figure 3 we have two wheels of the same diameter; if 
we should turn A exactly one revolution and the surface of B 
were in contact with that of A, it can be clearly seen that B 



'^^,yj?i^^. 



A 



.^oZ, 



Figure 4. 

would also make one revolution because the circumferences of 
each are equal. From this we learn that wheels having the 
same diameters working together make the same number of 
revolutions and turn in opposite directions. 

In Figure 4 we have one large wheel and four smaller 
ones turned by it. They are respectively one-half, one-fourth, 
one-eighth and one-sixteenth the diameter of the large wheel. 

The wheel A has a diameter of 80 m-m, B is one-half that 
of A, or 40 m-m; if the diameter of B is one-half that of A, 
then the circumference also must be one-half that of A. The 

42 



WHEELS AND PINIONS. 

speed of their circumferences must be the same as they are 
turning by friction; this being true, we can easily see that 
B must make two revolutions to one of A. The diameter of 
C is one-fourth that of A, therefore it must make four revolu- 
tions while A makes one. D being one-eighth that of A, it 
must make eight revolutions while A makes one, and E being 
one-sixteenth that of A, must make sixteen revolutions to one 
of A. 

These points should be thoroughly understood before we 
attempt to compute trains, as unless the first principles are 
well understood, it will be quite difficult to comprehend the 
more difiicult problem that will follow: 

In Figure 4 should the power be applied to E, it would 
have to make sixteen revolutions before A would make one. 
This illustrates the power of man as applied to the crank, 
raising the heavy weight, while the power as applied to a 
watch train would be that of A revolving E sixteen times to 
one of itself. 

It is not practicable to convey the power from the barrel 
to the escapement with only two or three wheels, as it is nec- 
essary that the center wheel should make one revolution each 
hour and the fourth wheel should revolve once each minute, 
and both miist turn in the same direction. This can only be 




Figure 5. 

accomplished by using a compound train, which is illustrated 
in Figure 5. 

A represents the main wheel or barrel which contains the 
spring or motive power of the watch. The teeth of A engage 

43 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROX.OGY. 

the leaves of the pinion B, turning it in the opposite direction, 
upon B is staked the v/heel C which must turn with it. Wheel 
C engages pinion D, upon which is staked wheel E. This in 
tura engages pinion F, which is the arbor upon which wheel 
Gr revolves. This wheel engages the last pinion H. 

The larger one of a pair working together is commonly 
called a wheel, and the smaller one a pinion. 

It will be noticed in all compound trains that each alter- 
nate wheel and pinion revolve in the same direction. 

The projections on the edge of a wheel are called teeth, 
and work into the spaces of the pinion; the projections on the 
surface of the pinion are called leaves, and work into the 
spaces between the teeth of the wheel. 

The pointed part of the tooth protecting beyond the pitch 
circle or primitive circumference is called the addenda, that 
of the pinion the rounding. 

Great care is necessary in forming the shapes of the teeth 
and leaves, as a smooth, easily working train can not be pro- 
duced otherwise. Various forms of teeth are employed ac- 
cording to the work to be performed. Those that would work 
nicely in some cases would be very faulty in others, so that 
it is necessary to have different methods of finding the sizes 
according to the uses required. 

The rules following will enable the reader to figure out 
the correct sizes of all wheels and pinions according to meth- 
ods now in use in most of the leading watch factories. 

In speaking of the train of a watch, we mean a system of 
wheels and pinions used to transmit the power from the main 
spring or barrel to the escapement, which regulates the speed 
of the wheels, and at the same time makes it possible to ac- 
curately register the time by the revolutions of the hands. 

Each of the wheels and pinions forming the train have a 
technical name, which should be well understood. 

The barrel, containing the rootive power or main spring, is 
called the first wheel. We do not often call it by this name, 
but speak of it as the "barrel." 

The teeth of the barrel act upon the leaves of the pinion 
usually found in the center of the watch, called the "center 
pinion." There are some cases where this pinion is located 
elsewhere, as with movements with a sweep second hand. 

44 



WHEELS AND PINIONS. 

The center or second wheel is staked upon the center pin- 
ion and its teeth engage the leaves of the third pinion, upon 
which is staked the third wheel. This in turn acts upon the 
fourth pinion carrying the fourth wheel. The fourth wheel 
engages the fifth pinion or, as we commonly call it, the escape 
pinion, and upon this pinion is staked the escape wheel or 
fifth wheel. 

It will be seen that we begin numbering the wheels at the 
barrel, and count towards the escape wheel, as first, second, 
third, fourth and fifth or escape. The pinions it will be no- 
ticed take their names from the wheels which are staked upon 
them, as center wheel and pinion, third wheel and pinion; 
while in reality the third pinion is only the second one, it 
would be very confusing to number them in any other man- 
ner. 

A very important thing for us to learn and understand 
thoroughly is. that in finding the sizes of wheels or pinions, 
we must always consider them in pairs; the pair will be the 
wheel and pinion working together. The train of a watch con- 
sists of the following pairs: Barrel and center pinion; Cen- 
ter wheel and third pinion; Third wheel and fourth pinion; 
Fourth wheel and escape pinion. 

We have learned that the revolutions of two wheels work- 
ing together are governed entirely by their diameters. A wheel 
one-half the diameter of another making twice the revolu- 
tions. The number of teeth in these wheels must also be in 
exact proportion to their diameters. 

The following rule should be carefully studied, viz: "The 
primitive diameter of a wheel is to the primitive diameter of 
a pinion as the number of teeth in the wheel is to the num- 
ber of leaves in the pinion." For example: 

We have a wheel of 80 teeth and a pinion of 10 leaves. 
The primitive diameter of the wheel is 16 m-m required the 
primitive diameter of the pinion. 

80 : 10 :: 16 : (x) 
x=2 m-m 
In finding the sizes of lost wheels or pinions, we have no 
sizes to start with; in many instances we do not even have the 
number of teeth in the required wheel; we first find the cor- 
rect number of teeth by counting up the train, which will be 

45 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 



more fully explained later, then by carefully measuring our 
distance between centers by the aid of a depthing tool, we can 
easily and accurately find the correct sizes by the following 
rules: 

The distance between centers is the distance from the cen 
ter of a wheel to the center of the pinion into which it depths, 



'0 



'f^^ X 



Q 



^Jd7^< 



L >/9.¥7^ 




Figure 6. 

but we must take our measurements from the plates from 
jewel to jewel. The points of the depthing tool should be set 
so they enter the centers of the two jewels while the spindles 
of the tool are perpendicular to the plate, as shown in Figure 
6. To find the exact distance from center to center, we meas- 
ure from outside of one spindle to the outside of the other, 
and then deduct the diameter of one spindle (both being the 
same), the result will be the exact distance between centers. 
This is also clearly shown in Figure 6. Comparatively few 
of the best watchmakers seem to be familiar with the milli- 

46 



WHEELS AND PINIONS. 

meter gauge. It is so much ahead of the old degree gauge and 
less cumbersome than the micrometer, that I would advise all 
of my readers to get one, and become thoroughly acquainted 
with its use; when this is done, am sure you will wonder how 



^.-.^d^ien^di. 




Figure 7. 

you ever were able to get along without it. All measurements 
referred to in these articles will be from the metric system. 

The gauge referred to will measure 1-250 of an inch, and a 
person familiar with its use can measure as accurately to 
1-500 part. 

The terms that are shown in Figure 7 should be well un- 
derstood, and are explained in the following: 

1. The full diameter of a wheel is the distance from the 
point of a tooth on one side to the point of a tooth on the 
opposite side. 

2. The primitive diameter is the full diameter less the ad- 
denda. It is also the distance from the primitive circum- 
ference (or pitch circle), through the center to the primitive 
circumfrence on the opposite side. 

47 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

3. The primitive radius is one-half of the primitive diame- 



ter. 



4. The addenda is the difference between the full and 
primitive diameters. 

5. The distance between centers is from the center of the 



80. 



! 



'^--->s.\<-- 



- -- > /8X^ 



Figure 8. 



wheel to the center of the pinion, and is alivays one-half of 
the Slim of their primitive diameters. 

6. The circular pitch is found oy aividing the primitive 
circumference by the number of teeth or leaves. 

7. The diametrical pitch is found by dividing the prim- 
itive diameter by the number of teeth or leaves. 

8. The diametrical pitch X the number of teeth or leaves 
:=the primitive diameter. 

9. The primitive diameter + the addenda^wH diameter. 

48 



WHEELS AND PINIONS. 

10. The sum of the primitive diameters equals twice the 
distance between centers. 

11. Twice the distance between centers-^ the sum of teeth 
and leaves of the pair working together gives the diametrical 
pitch. 

12. The full diameter of a train wheel is the pri'mitive 
diameter -{-two and a half (2%) diametrical pitches. 

13. The full diameter of a pinion is the primitive diame- 
ter+one and one-fourth (1^/4 ) diametrical pitches. 

In Figure 8 the distance between centers (B C) is shown 
by A or 9 m-m, twice the distance between centers or the 
sum of their primitive diameters is shown by B or 18 m-m. 

We will proceed as follows to find the full diameters of 
both wheel and pinion. 

9 m-m X 2=18 m-m twice B C. 

80+10=90 sum of teeth and leaves. 

18 (sum of diameters) -^ 90 (sum of teeth) ^.2 m-m diame- 
trical pitch. 

.2 (d. pitch) X80 (no. of teeth)=16 m-m primitive diame- 
ter of wheel. 

.2X2i4=:.5 addenda for wheel. 

16 m-m-^-.5 m-m=16.5 m-m full diameter of wheel. 

.2X10^2. m-m prim. di. of pinion. 

.2X1%^.25 m-m addenda of pinion. 

2. m-m+.25 m-m^2.25 m-m full diameter of the pinion. 

We find the sizes of all wheels or pinions in the same 
manner only allow different amounts for the addenda, for 
instance in the stem wind wheels, we add two diametrical 
pitches to the primitive diameter. 

For train wheels, we will add two and a half for the 
wheel and one and one-fourth tor the pinion. 

Our work can be greatly simplified if we understand the 
principles involved by working out our problem as follows: — 
the diametrical pitch will be found as before. 

To find the full diameter of the wheel, multiply the dia- 
metrical pitch by the number of teeth+2%. 

80+21/2=821/2- 

.2 (diametrical p.)X82%=16.5 m-m full diameter of 
wheel. 

49 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 



To find tlie pinion multiply the diametrical pitch, by the 
leaves +11/4. 

10+11/4=111/4. 

.2 (diametrical p.) Xlli/4=2.25 m-m full diameter of 
pinion. 

In actual practice, we obtain the same results with con- 
siderable less work. 

I will give another problem to illustrate the method more 
clearly. Suppose we are repairing a watch, and have reason 
for believing the depth between the third wheel and fourth 




Figure g. 

pinion is faulty, we can tell very quickly which is of improper 
size; with our depthing tool we find the center distance to be 
8.5 m-m. The wheel has 75 teeth and the pinion 10 leaves. 

We first double the center distance. 

8.5 m-m X 2=17.0 (Twice B C). 

75+10^85 (sum of teeth and leaves). 

17-^85=.2 diametrical pitch. 

Wheel=.2X (75+214 )=15.5 full diameter. 

Pinion^.2X(10+li/4)=2.25 full diameter. 

These sizes will be the correct ones, and by comparing 
the sizes of the wheel and pinion with the ones just found 
any defects can be detected. 

50 



WHEELS AND PINIONS. 

I would advise my readers who are interested in this 
very important part of their work to take down some move- 
ment, and figure out the sizes of several pairs of wheels and 
pinions, as by so doing the principles will be better understood 
and will be less liable to be forgotten. 

The primitive diameters of all wheels and pinions work- 
ing together are in the exact proportions to each other that 
their teeth and leaves are. This will be better understood 
from Figure 9. Here we have a wheel of 80 teeth, only half 
of it being shown, three pinions depth into this wheel each 
having a different number of leaves; they must therefore 
have different diameters; the one at the left has eight leaves, 
which is one tenth (8-^80=1-10) of the number of teeth in 
the wheel. The primitive diameter or radius of this pinion 
must be exactly one tenth that of the wheel, which is clear- 
ly shown by the divisions showing the radius of the wheel di- 
vided into ten parts. 

The pinion on the right has ten leaves; its radius then 
must be one-eighth that of the wheel as shown by the eight 
parts, while the size of the pinion in the center having twelve 
leaves would be found by dividing the diameter of the wheel 
into 6 2-3 parts. 80^-12=6 2-3. 

The eight and ten leaf pinions have a leaf and space di- 
vided into three parts, the leaf having one part, and the space 
two parts; M'hile with the twelve leaf pinion, a leaf and space 
is divided into five parts, two for the leaf and three for space. 

In the wheel the spaces are a trifle wider than the teeth, 
13-25 being allowed for the former and 12-25 for the latter. 
The addenda is not always the same. We allow two and a 
half diametrical pitches for train wheels, while for stem wind 
wheels we allow only two. This makes the teeth a trifie 
shorter. 

The construction of the train determines the vibrations 
of the balance in a given time, or as we commonly speak of it, 
18,000, 16,200 or 14,000 vibrations per hour, the first one be- 
ing the fast train now in common use, and the last two the 
slow trains which are not used to any great extent except 
in marine chronometers. 

Nearly all watches made now have the fast train with 300 
vibrations a minute. The escape wheels have fifteen teeth 

51 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

(the rule is so general that we will consider it an exception 
when any other number is used), and as each tooth of this 
wheel gives impulse alternately to the R. and L. pallet, it 
must give twice the number of impulses or vibrations to a 
revolution as there are teeth in the wheel (15X2=30). If 
there are 30 virbations of the balance to one revolution of 





Hi. 


^ 






.• -.v:-i:i.« 




' 






m 


lii.''^. ' ' '1 


' 


MMiP^ 





Figure lo. 

the escape wheel, then there must be as many revolutions 
of the escape wheel per minute as 30 is contained in the vi- 
brations per minute: 

300 -=-30=10 ] fast train. 



270^30= 9 



240-^30= 8 



slow trains. 



Should we wish to replace a hair spring, we can quickly 
determine the number of vibrations the watch should have by 
dividing the number of teeth in the fourth wheel by the 
number of leaves in the escape pinion, and multiplying this 

52 



WHEELS AND PINIONS. 

result by twice the number of teeth in the escape wheel, for 
example: 

The fourth wheel has 80 teeth. 

The escape wheel has 15 teeth. 

The escape pinion has 8 leaves. 

80-^8X(2xl5)=300 vibrations per minute. 

In all cases where there is a second hand the above rule 
may be used. In case there is no second hand, then we must 




Figurs II. 

start from some point that makes a definite number of revo- 
lutions in a given time, as the center wheel, which makes 
one revolution each hour. In the article on Hair Springs 
and Springing, this will be more fully explaineS". 

The train of a watch is so sensitive, and the motive 
power so very small, that it requires but a slight imperfection 
in the construction, or a very small amount of wear to cause 
it to stop. We often find a train that to all appearances is 
perfectly free, yet the watch will stop, and before we have a 
chance even to examine it, it will start off and perhaps run 

53 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

for hours before it will stop again. We find this often in 
movements that have been running for a long time and are 
badly worn. The trouble is frequently found in the escape 
pinion for two reasons, first it revolves more rapidly than 
any of the others and is more liable to wear, and second, it re- 
quires less power at that point to stop the train than at any 
other. Figure 10 is a photograph of an escape pinion highly 
magnified, showing where the fourth wheel has worn a leaf 
half in two. This has the same effect as a shallow depth, and 
the watch often stopped until a new pinion was put in, after 




Figure 12. 
which the trouble disappeared. In some cases we can raise 
or lower the fourth wheel so it will work above or below the 
worn place, which will overcome the difficulty. 

Some of our best lessons may be learned by the photo- 
graphs which will be shown from time to time. These will 
show how work should be done, and also how it should not 
be done. We repair a watch, but as we place it to our ear 
we hear it "grind," examine the pivots and they appear in 
good condition, but place the same pivot under the compound 
microscope and examine it thoroughly, and I do not hesitate 
a moment in sajang we will all try and do a little better next 
time. A well polished pivot looks slightly rough, but when 

54 



WHEELS AND PINIONS. 

we examine those made by a careless workman, it is no won- 
der so many watches fail to perform their duty in a satis- 
factory manner. 

Often a watch is improperly oiled, and the pivots get dry 
and begin to cut in a short time; they are so badly worn that 
a new pivot is necessary. E'igure 11 shows such a pivot, 
where it is worn nearly half way off. When the surface be- 
comes dry, a powder soon forms, which seems to cut the 
steel very rapidly, and soon the pivot will bind in the plate. 




Figure 13. 



if not jeweled, and in some cases they can not be removed 
without breaking. 

Many very good workmen do not think it is necessary 
to understand how to find the correct sizes of wheels and 
pinions as shown in these articles, but I am sure that one 
who does understand how to do it intelligently will have 
much the best success with his work. How often we see a 
workman "round up" a wheel where the depth appears faulty 
which is caused by the wheel being staked on the pinion out 

55 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

of center; the wheel may be the exact size for the pinion, yet 
being out of true in the round, caused by being decentered. 
the depth would be too deep on one side and too shallow on 
the opposite side; by "rounding up" the wheel its size will 
be reduced and the wheel will be too small for the pinion. 

The proper way would have been to cement the wheel 
on a chuck in the lathe and true from the outside of the 
teeth with peg wood, cut out the center true and bush to fit 
the pinion. In this manner the wheel would retain its cor- 
rect size, and yet be perfectly true. 

To illustrate the necessity of understanding this branch 
of our work thoroughly, I show in Figure 12 a photograph of 
a wheel taken out of a French clock which would not keep 
time. It had been repaired, but failed to work properly. A 
portion of this wheel had been broken and a section of an- 
other wheel was soldered on the original v/heel. This might 
not have been so bad, but the wheel in the first place had 72 
teeth, but the portion replaced had coarser teeth, and the 
wheel as repaired contained 68 teeth instead of 72, which 
it should have had; this being the center wheel and making 
one revolution each hour, the clock, if it run, would gain 
constantly. The original wheel having 72 teeth and the re- 
paired one 68, it would gain (72-^68^1 hour, 3 min, 31 13-17 
sec). Each hour the clock would gain 3 minutes and 31 13-17 
seconds, or about 84 minutes a day. Figure 13 is another very 
peculiar case that recently came to my notice. The pivot of 
the escape pinion in a finely adjusted watch was broken, the 
one who repaired it not being able to properly replace a new 
pivot, filed the arbor of the pinion to a point and tried to 
make it run in the jewel. It was not a success, and a new 
pinion had to be turned to replace this one, after which the 
watch kept good time again. 

I often wonder how any one who has any conscience 
can dp such work, and trust that these examples may be an 
incentive for all to do better work. 



56 



^,,^„ THE BALANCE STAFF AND | 
^^ ITS MEASUREMENTS. S 



There is no part of a watch that requires greater care 
in its making than the balance staff. Much of the close 
timing depends upon the accuracy and fine finish of the 
pivots of this delicate part of our watch. 

Doubtless many of my readers will say, it is not neces- 
sary to know how to turn a staff; that it is time thrown away 
in learning to do it, as we can buy them very nicely finished 
which have been made by automatic machinery, and perhaps 
are better than the ordinary watchmaker can ever hope to 
make them with the small amount of practice he has in that 
line to-day. They can be bought for less money than the 
time is worth that must be spent in making them, yet I must 
insist that it is absolutely necessary for the watchmaker of 
to-day to know how as well as those of a quarter of a century 
ago, before the introduction of automatic machinery. 

We may be able to buy a staff that will fit the watch we 
have to repair nine times out of ten, but the tenth time we 
are unable to do so, and we will be obliged to make it our- 
selves. It is just as important to Tinow how to make one well 
if we only have it to do occasionally as it would be if we 
were making them constantly, possibly more so 

We are constantly getting watches to repair that no ready 
made pieces will fit, viz., those made in foreign countries. The 
Americans were the first to make their movements with in- 
terchangeable parts, so duplicate parts could be obtained 
and quickly fitted. The foreign manufacturers were very 
slow to see the advantages of this system, and, as many of 
their watches are made at the homes of the watchmakers in- 
stead of in factories, it is easily seen that their parts could 
not be interchangeable, and getting duplicate parts to re- 
place broken or worn ones becomes quite a serious matter 
to the inexperienced workman. Many of the very finest Swiss 
watches have no duplicate parts, therefore each individual 
piece must be made for that particular movement For this 

57 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

reason the successful watclimaker of to-day requires as great 
skill as those of a quarter of a century ago, although he may 
not be required to show his skill so often in some ways as 




Fig. I. 

formerly. Unless we are able to make our repairs as good 
as the original, our work is never properly done. 

To niake a balance staff properly, requires good judg- 
ment, patience and skill. We should never depend upon the 
old staff for our measurements, as in many cases the old one 

58 



THE BALANCE STAFF AND ITS MEASUREMENTS. 

is wrong, and we would make a new one with tlie same 
faults. We should talve them from the watch itself, making 
each part of the staff to correspond. This may seem a very- 
hard thing to do for those who have not been in the habit 
of doing so, but it is a very simple thing to take them accu- 
rately and quickly by the use of the millimeter gauge shown 
in Fig. 1. I would advise every workman to add this useful 
tool to his equipment, if he has not one. Its use will be 
easily mastered. 

We often find a balance cock that is badly bent, or one 
that has several burrs thrown up with a graver to adjust and 
shake, etc., etc. Our first step should be to restore all parts 
to their original position or condition before attempting to 




Fig. 2. 

make our measurements. When this has been done, we will 
first measure from the outside of the top cap jewel to the 
outside of the bottom cap jewel. From this measurement 
take the thickness of both cap jewels, and we bave the dis- 
tance from' the inside of one cap jewel to the inside of the 
other, or the exact length of the staff, making no allowance 
for end shake, which should be just enough to be seen, about 
one-half of one-tenth of a millimeter. 

We obtain the height of the roller by getting the distance 
from the outside of the bottom hole jewel to the top of the 

59 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

lever, adding to this enough for clearance, about 2-10 m-m 
and the thickness of the roller. The balance seat is located in 
various ways, in a full plate watch like the one shown in 
Fig 2. We may get the distance from the outside of the bot- 
tom hole jewel to the top of the upper plate, adding just 
enough for clearance, about 2-10 m-m. 

In cases where the hair-spring stud is stationary and 
cannot be raised or lowered, a difficulty presents itself; if we 
get our balance a trifle too high, our hair-spring will be high 
in the center, and should it be too low, the spring will be low 
in the center. All watches of this kind, I get the distance 
from the outside of the top hole jewel to the underside of the 
hair-spring collet, while the stud is in place on the balance 
cock and the spring level with it; to this measurement add 




Fig- 3- 



the thickness of the balance arm and we have the exact 
distance from the end of the top pivot to the shoulder for the 
balance. 

The hub of the staff should be slightly less in diameter 
than the width of the arm of the balance and have a grace- 
ful taper; the roller should fit squarely against the hub of the 

60 



THE BALANCE STAFF AND ITS MEASUREMENTS. 

staff, and should require but a slight tap of the hammer in 
staking it on. It is a mistake fitting them as tightly as is 
often done; by so doing the staff is liable to become bent and 
unfit for use. 

The shoulder beneath the roller may be undercut a trifle, 
but it should not be done in a manner that will weaken the 
staff. 

In fitting the hair-spring collet, it is a bad practice to 
try on the collet itself, but a better way is to take the meas- 
urement by slipping the collet on a smooth broach as shown 




Fig. 4. 



(A. Fig. 3.), and getting the size of the broach at the points 
shown by the arrows. The taper of the broach will be just 
enough to make the collet fit nicely. 

61 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

Nearly every workman thinks his way is the only proper 
one, perhaps because he is more familiar with it. My advice 
is to learn all the ways poslble, and then use the best points 
of them all in your own work, being ready at all times to 
drop an old idea for a more modern or better one. We must 
be progressive. 

The first step toward making a staff after our measure- 
ments have been taken, is to prepare our steel. We can buy 




Fig. 5- 



blanks hardened and tempered ready for use, but I am in 
favor of preparing my own steel, as much depends upon this 
important part, as has already been, demonstrated in the 
previous article on Iron and Steel. That which has been 
overheated in hardening will be very brittle and unfit for 

62 



THE BALANCE STAFF AND ITS MEASUREMENTS. 

our "work; only that hardened at a very low temperature, 
barely a cherry red, will make the best staff wire. After 
hardening, we can polish the surface and draw the temper 
to a purple blue, or a better way, is to take an old iron 
spoon, place the hardened wire in it with a small piece of 




Fig. 6. 



beeswax or a little lard oil and heat over a lamp until the 
beeswax or oil ignites. This will make a hard staff; if you 
allow it to burn off, it will make a softer staff, one that will 
turn easily. It is a mistake, making a staff too hard, as it 
wears no better, and is more liable to break. 

Some workmen prefer to turn the lower end and some 
the top end of a staff first. In my own work, I always turn 

63 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

the top end first. This may not be the best, but to me it 
seems that way. 

The wire should project from the chuck of the lathe far 
enough to make the whole staff before we begin our work; 




Fig. 7. 



our first step is shown in Fig. 4, where the shoulder has been 
turned to fit the balance arm, and also the correct distance 
from the end. Fig. 5 shows the second step — the hair-spring 
collet has been fitted, the undercut made for riveting over 
the balance arm and the part turned down for the pivot. 
This should never be over two-thirds the size of the collet 

64 



THE BALANCE STAFF AND ITS MEASUREMENTS. 

shoulder. Fig. 6 shows the pivot and the back cut complete 
with the hub blocked out ready to grind and polish. The 
whole staff is now nicely ground and polished except the bal- 
ance shoulder. First we grind with oilstone powder and oil, 
being careful to always grind in a diagonal direction in order 
that we may get a perfectly smooth surface. The staff is 
now thoroughly cleaned and ground again with crocus and 
oil in the same manner, and after cleaning again is polished 
with diamantne and oil, using just enough oil to make a very 




Fig. 8. 



thick paste, as it will not polish until the oil becomes quite 
dry. The object of turning the staff to a long taper as shown 
in Fig. G is to allow us to grind and polish the hub pecfectly 
flat, which could not be dene if we should block out the hub 
first, then the corners would be rounded, which ruins the 
beauty of fine work. After the polish is completed, we may 
block out our lower end as shown in Fig. 7, which shows it 
ready to be broken off and placed in the cement chuck, as 
shown in Fig. 8 at c; at a is shown a cement brass properly 
centered; at b is shown one as they are liable to be. It re- 
quires considerable practice to be able to center a piece of 
brass perfectly, but this is necessary in order that our fin- 
ished staff should be perfectly true. 

Our cement brass should be heated hot enough to melt 
the cement in order that it may hold properly; the staff 

65 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

should also be hot, and while warm should be trued up with 
a piece of peg wood. The lathe should be kept in motion 
until the cement gets set, or it would not remain true, if the 
cement should be thicker on one side than on the other. The 
staff will often be thrown out of true by the unequal con- 
traction in cooling. In such case, turn the cement round, 
reheat and true, when it will remain so. 

Cone pivots must be perfectly cylindrical where they 
enter the jewel; in- fact, they are the same shape on the end 
as a square shoulder pivot, the cone shape being used to give 
greater strength. This is shown in Fig. 3 at 6 and c; at 
d is shown a pivot as it should be fitted to a jewel. Th« 
pivot should always be long enough to go more than through 
the jewel, so the cap jewel will force it back slightly; in this 
way there is no danger of the cone ever binding in the 
jewel hole. This causes many watches to lose motion iu 
different positions. The end of the pivots should be ground 
perfectly flat and nicely polished. It is a good practice to 
polish the end before turning down the pivot; this insurer 
its being perfectly flat. 

The pivot and the cone must be ground diagonally, as 
shown in Fig. 3 at e. the grinder and polishers being moved 
in the direction of the arrows; a cross section of the grinder 
and polishers is shown at f, the corner being rounded to fit 
the cone of the pivot. Fig. 9 is a photograph of the iron 
grinder and the bell metal and tin polishers. The shape 
of all is the same, the one at the right showing the rounded 
corner used for cone pivots; near the end where the round- 
ing is the greatest, it can be used for large pivots, and farther 
back for small ones, there being some place that will flt 
any pivot. We use the oilstone powder on the iron, the 
crocus on the bell metal and the diamantine on the tin 
polisher. 

Pig. 8 shows the method of staking on the balance wheel; 
punch 1 is a hollow flat one, large enough to flt over the 
staff and drive the arm down to the shoulder; 2 is a hollow 
round face, which flts closely and spreads the undercut; 3 is 
a flat face that rivets it down perfectly smooth. 

Pig. 1 shows, besides the millimeter gauge, a pivot gauge, 
which is a great help in fiting a pivot correctly. By having 

66 



THE BALANCE STAFF AND ITS MEASUREMENTS. 

a set of pivots turned on the end of pieces of wire, we can 
select tlie one that fits our jewel properly, then determine 




Fig. 9. 



its size on the pivot gauge, and turn our pivot to that size, 
allowing the gauge to hang "lightly on the pivot. 

In making the back cuts or under cuts, it is necessary 
to have the gravers perfectly sharp and touch the work vei-y 
lightly, as a trifle too much pressure will break off the deli- 
cate point, and prevent the gravers from cutting. 

Some object to the use of cement, as it is so hard to 
clean off. This is easily overcome by placing our staff, after 
removing from the cement, upon a small piece of brass or 

67 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

copper, and heating slowly over a lamp. Most of the cement 
will melt off, and only a very little alcohol will be needed 
to dissolve that remaining. 

A splendid lathe cement can be made by melting or- 
dinary shellac, and adding a small amount of balsam of fir. 
This makes a cement that is much stronger than ordinary 
cement. 



% 



68 




There is no part of the watchmaker's art that requires 
more skill, in its performance, than that of jeweling, and yet 
from the many specimens of poor work that are seen so often, 
one would think that knowledge upon this subject was ■very 
meager. We see jewels cemented in with shellac, others that 
are loose in their settings, and in many cases jewels that are 
set in upside down, and at times, those set are so much out of 
riat that the pivots will pass diagonally through them. 

Jewels are used for two purposes, to reduce the friction 
and make a harder surface for the pivot to act against, thus 
lessening the wear and consequent side 'hake of the pivots, 
also requiring less motive power to run the watch, and as we 
reduce the strength of the main spring, we also reduce the 
wear throughout the train, giving a longer life to the move 
ment. 

Jewels are made of various substances, ranking in quality 
according to their hardness, the sapphire and ruby being 
the best, and the more common ones are made of garnet, while 
the cheapest ones are nothing but glass, and ere worse than 
/ione. The diamond is sometimes used for the cap jewel in 
some of the better grades of movements, and on account of 
their extreme hardness and their high polish, are very valu- 
able for that purpose. 

Jewels are very helpful, when properly set, but are worse 
than none when poorly set, or when those that are used are 
not well polished; a good, brass bearing for a pivot, when 
nicely burnished with a smooth broach, makes a splendid sub- 
stitute for a jewel, and will wear for many years. We see 
many of the finest chronometers, costing several hundred 
dollars, where the greater portion of the train is not jeweled 
at all. 

Figure 1 shows a cross section of the jewels in common 
use; A and B are two forms of cap jewels or end stones; C, 
an American plate jewel; D, a Swiss plate jewel, also used as 

69 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

a balance jewel at times in the ctieapest woii^; E, a balance 
jewel used in the best work. 

Figure 2 shows a cap jewel and a balance jewel in their 
settings with a pivot passing through the hole jewel, resting 



/" 



Fig I. 



against the cap jewel. The thickness of the balance jewel 
should be such that the friction of the pivot on the side and 
that on the end would be the same when the watch is in dif- 
ferent positions. 




Fig. 2. 



Jeweling is not a difficult task, and but few tools are re- 

^ quired to do it nicely; two or three jewel-gravers (Fig. 3), 

one or two jewel burnishers (Fig 4) and a burnish file are 

about the only tools necessary, it being expected that the 

70 



JEWELING. 

average watchmaker is well supplied with a good assortment 
of drills, brass wire, etc. 

Jewel gravers should be made triangular in form with the 
lower corner removed as shown in the end view of Figure 



a 

U 



H 



Fig. 3- 

3. The top of same graver is shown at A, the side at B, and the 
bottom at C; these can be easily made from wire about 4 m-m 
square, hardened and tempered to a dark straw. 



Fig. 4. 



I will explain first how to set the jewel and make a new 
setting to replace a broken plate jewel; often new jewels are 
set in the old settings. This is far from satisfactory, al- 
though it can be nicely done if the new jewel is slightly 

71 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 



a 



h 



c 




d 



e 



Fig. 5- 



72 



JEWELING. 

larger than the old one, as we can cement up the old setting, 
cut a new seat and fit the jewel properly; where the jewels 
are set in gold, it is often desirable to use the old settings 
again. The following remarlvS apply to either new or old 
settings, only we begin by setting the jewel in the wire in 
the former case. 

The first step will be to center the wire and drill the hole 
A. (Fig. 5.) This hole should be about two-thirds as large 
as the diameter of the jewel to be set. We can never depend 
upon a drill making a true hole, so after drilling we cut 
out the hole perfectly true with the jewel graver as shown 
at B until about three-fourths the diameter of the jewel. We 
are now ready to cut the seat for the jewel as shown at C, 
making it just large enough that the jewel will fit loosely in 
the hole, yet without perceptible side shake. Many good 
workmen try to cut the seat for the jewel to rest against the 
same curvature as the jewel by using a jewel graver with a 
rounded end; theoretically this is correct, but in actual prac- 
tice it is hard to do. I think it is better to make a square 
shoulder, as shown in cut C (Fig. 5), allowing only a very 
small shoulder for the jewel to rest against, then stripping 
out the setting just to this shoulder as shown by the dotted 
lines in E (Fig. 5). 

Before burnishing in the jewel, it should be just below 
the surface of the wire. This can be done by burnishing the 
wire at the edge of the hole over the jewel or by cutting a 
bezel around the hole and burnishing the thin brass over 
the jewel as at D and B (Fig. 5). 

The burnisher (Fig. 4) should be very hard and highly 
polished; in making one, it is best to leave it full hard, not 
tempering at all, otherwise the brass will adhere to the burn- 
isher, and prevent nice work; a little beeswax will often help 
the burnisher to perform its work in a more satisfactory man- 
ner. When the jewel is perfectly solid, the end of the wire 
may be faced off until nearly level with the jewel. It should 
now be tested to see if it is true. We find many jewels where 
the hole is not in the center; when such a jewel is set, the 
hole will not run true as the outside of the jewel fits the hole 
in the wire, the result is the hole will not run true in the 
lathe. Should we now turn down the outside to fit the plate, 

73 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

the hole would not be in the center of the setting. We test 
the trueness of the jewel with a long piece of pegwood, the 
point of it being in the hole of the jewel, and allowing it to 
rest on the T rest near the point. This will magnify the 
motion at the other end of the pegwood, and we can quickly 
determine its trueness. Should it not be true, we should 
cut off the wire at once, long enough to make the setting, 
after which we will cement up the jewel, truing from the 




a 




v 



h 




c 



Fi^. 6. 



hole by means of a piece of pegwood. Now, by turning down 
the outside of the setting, it is easily seen that the hole of the 
jewel must be in the center of the setting. After the setting 
is turned to fit the plate, it can be reversed and the stripping 
done. This is a very difficult thing for most workmen to do. 
There is a little "knack" in doing it, that must be learned by 
experience, but the most important thing is to have a graver 
in proper condition. It must have a long point, sharpened 

74 



JEWELING. 

perfectly flat, and be nicely polished. The polishing should be 
done by drawing the graver on the polisher parallel to the 
cutting edge, as shown in Pig. 6, at A; this leaves the edge 
of the graver very smooth, enabling us to cut a polished sur- 
face while a graver polished crosswise, like B, leaves the edge 
very rought, like C, making it impossible to make a smooth 
cut. This is very important; about the best polisher for our 
gravers is a piece of plate glass about four or five inches 
square with a piece of 4-0 or 5-0 emery paper cemented upon 
one side of it, the glass being hard, allows us to polish the 
gravers without rounding the edge. In using the graver for 
the final cut, we should either give it a slightly drawing or 
sliding cut, otherwise the surface is liable to be full of rings, 
and not nicely polished. The setting should not be polished 
with rouge or any other polishing material, as that has a tend- 
ency to round the corners, which ruins nice work. The top or 
flat surface of a setting seems to be the most difficult part to 
finish for the ordinary workman, yet it is not difficult. We 
require a piece of finely ground plate glass; a piece about 
three or four inches square is a convenient size; in fact, it 
is best to have two of them. The plate glass can be obtained 
from any dealer in glass for a few cents, and may be ground 
with emery flour and water, grinding them with a circular 
motion until the whole surafce is well ground. Another nec- 
essary tool is the burnish file, which is never in proper con- 
dition when bought, but must be carefully prepared for use. 
One side is ground flat and quite smooth, and should be re- 
finished by drawing the file crosswise on a piece of rather 
coarse emery paper or a No. 1 emery buff stick. This leaves 
the surface af the file in very fine lines from side to side. 
After the surface of the file has been prepared, we must be 
very careful not to touch it with our fingers, as absolute 
cleanliness is necessary for nice burnishing, a finger mark or 
a particle of oil being enough to prevent the surface of the 
setting from polishing. 

As in many other things, there is a little "knack" in 
jewel burnishing that can only be acquired by experience. 
We proceed as follows: The setting is first ground upon the 
ground glass with a little tripoli and oil or oil stone powder 
and oil until it is perfectly fiat and is just thick enough to 

7.5 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

be flat with the surface of the plate. It is now thoroughly 
cleaned with a little benzine, which removes the oil, then 
with a piece of clean pith. It is now ready for the final bur- 
nishing, the file having been previously prepared and per- 
fectly clean. We place the jewel setting on it with a clean 
pair of tweezers (the fingers should not touch the jewel or 




Fig. 7. 



file at all during the progress of the work). Carefully place 
a piece of tissue paper over the setting, place the fingers upon 
it, bearing very heavily upon the paper and setting, give a 
few strokes lengthwise of the file with considerable pressure 
and the job is done, and should be as well polished as those 
In a new movement. Unless our repairing is finished as 

76 



JEWELING. 

nicely as the origiual pieces, we are not doing our work as 
well as it should be done. 

In setting either plate or balance jewels, we should set 
the cup side in, having the flat side out if a plate jewel, and 
the convex or rounded side out if it be a balance jewel. The 
convex surface of the balance jewel should be slightly below 
the surface of the setting, so the cap jewel, or end stone, will 
not quite come in contact with it, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. 
There should always be a very small space between the bal- 
ance jewel and the cap jewel. Formerly the balance jewels 
had a flat surface like the cap jewels, but the convex surface 
is a great improvement on acount of the oil being held be- 
tween them by capillary attraction, and is gradually fed to 
the pivot, as the jewels are close together at that point. It is 
a very bad practice to have the cap jewel loose and resting 
directly upon the balance jewel, as we so often see them in 
Swiss watches. 

In cleaning watches, we should carefully examine the end 
stones, as they often become pitted very badly, greatly inter- 
fering with the time keeping qualities of the watch. Many 
of the best end stones as now made are flat on both sides, 
the top in many cases being flat just in the center. When we 
find a jewel of this kind that is pitted, we can take it out of 
the setting and reverse it in the same setting. This presents 
a new surface to the pivot, and is as good as a new jewel. In 
many new watches the jewels are set in this manner, the end 
of the pivot acting upon the small flat surface instead of the 
large surface as is commonly the case. It is clearly seen that 
by setting the flat surface against a square seat in the wire, 
we can get the jewel perfectly flat, quite an important point 
with an end stone. 

The pivot that has worn a pit into the cap jewel should 
be ground and repolished upon the end in every case where 
the cap jewel has become pitted. It is not generally known 
that the jewel which is being pitted charges the end of the 
pivot with its powder, the softer of two materials will always 
become charged, the principle being the same as a piece of 
steel, which is charged with diamond dust, being used to 
grind a diamond. I have seen several cases where new cap 
jewels had been put in to replace pitted ones that in a very 

77 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

short time were as bad as the ones that they replaced, simply 
because the pivots were charged with the powder, and had 
not "been refinished. I have seen several cases where the 
pallet stones were very badly worn where the teeth of a brass 
escape wheel came in contact with them, while the teeth of 
the wheel were not worn enough to be noticed. These teeth 
had become charged the same as the pivots, and it was nec- 
essary not only to replace the pallet jewels, but also the es- 
cape wheel. The principle is much the same as it would be 
to try to grind a piece of lead on an iron or steel lap with 
emery powder. The emery would imbed in the lead, and this 
would form a lap that would cut the iron or steel very rapidly, 
and not the lead. 

Perhaps our most difficult piece of jeweling is to set one 
in a Swiss bridge after the bezel has been ruined, and there 
is no way of burnishing in the jewel. This can be done by 
bushing the bridge and setting the jewel in the bushing. 
First we should place the lower plate of the movement in a 
face plate and true from the jewel hole in it. When this is 
done, the bridge to be jeweled is put in place and screwed on 
solid, having trued from the lower hole; the top one must also 
be true, as this is our method of uprighting. The hole will 
be cut out slightly tapering, as shown in Fig. 7, just to the 
edge of the previous stripping, slightly countarsinking the 
underside as shown. The next step will be to remove the 
bridge from the plate, turn down a brass wire so its taper 
will perfectly fit the taper of the bridge, allowing the end 
to come through just enough so we can burnish it over the 
bridge where it has been countersunk. The brass will now 
be perfectly solid, and the bridge will revolve with the wire 
in the lathe. The hole in the bridge was first cut out per- 
fectly true, then the wire was turned true, and the bridge bur- 
nished securely upon it, both must now be true, as they each 
have the same center. By centering the wire in the bridge 
and drilling the hole, we can set the jewel in the same manner 
as in the end of the brass wire, it only being necessary to set 
it the right depth to make the end shape correct, which may 
be easily determined with the millimeter gauge. By a careful 
study of Fig. 7 the method of finishing the upper side of the 
bushing will be understood. First the wire is cut off at the 

78 



JEWELING. 

dotted line just above the finished part of the bridge, tlien 
screwed in place on tlie lower plate, which has not been re- 
moved from the face plate. If our vv^ork has been well done 
the hole in the jewel we have just set will revolve perfectly 
true in the face plate, and we can strip out the bushing to 
the dotted line, which cuts off the projecting part of the bush- 
ing, leaving our work as good as new. I have seen bushings 
put in brass plates that were nickle-plated, the bushings 
being made of nickle wire, and so nicely done that none of 




Fig. 8. 



the brass showed at all; in fact, the most careful examination 
would not show that a bushing had been put in. It should 
be our aim in all work done to make it so perfect that repairs 
of any kind cannot be detected. 

79 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

There are many other kinds of jewels, such as the pallet 
stones, jewel pins, etc., which are not spokne of at this time, 
but they will be explained fully in other articles on the lever 
escapement. 

Figure 8 is a balance jewel ground through the center 
showing the bearing of the pivot. It is highly magnified, and 
is a very good representation, the photograph having been 
taken from a very fine sapphire jewel. The balance jewels 
have "olive holes," as shown in this photograph, and also in 
Pig. 1 at E. The friction will be less in such a hole than it 
would be in one where the hole was the same size all the way 
through. 



r ^ 



80 




cmp'*^"''-^' c- - r- , -1 - i^r rr cT r-- J, it - r"> ^f (^^S 



PIVOTING. 



About the most difficult task a watchmaker is required 
to do is that of pivoting. Pivots are broken, or rendered 
unfit for use, in many ways. When a watch falls, or strikes 
any hard substance with considerable force, a pivot is liable 
to be either broken or badly bent; in either case the watch 
will be unable to perform its duties as a timekeeper. If the 
pivots are not properly oiled and become dry they soon wear 
so badly that the only remedy is a new pivot; then again, 
we find those that have been pivoted, but so poorly done 
that the watch cannot perform well. 

When one observes how some workmen resort to almost 
every conceivable method to avoid the task of pivoting, the 
natural conclusion would be that it is a very difficult task 
and but few are able to perform it in a satisfactory manner. 

To say it is an easy task to pivot properly, especially 
today, when the staffs, pinions, and other steel parts are left 
so hard, would be far from a truthful statement, as it is 
one of the most difficult tasks that comes to the average 
watchmaker. Let me repeat liere what has been said be- 
fore, unless our work when completed is as good as the 
original and does not show where it was done, it is not 
properly performed, and should not be used in good work. 

How often we see pivots not in the center of the staff, 
or pinion pivoted, caused either by the carelessness of the 
workman, or by the chucks of the lathe being out of true. 
Again, some cases where the work has been fairly well done, 
but previous to doing it the temper had been drawn until 
the body of the staff, or pinion, and sometimes, even the 

81 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

arms of the balance wheel, were drawn to a blue. All staffs 
and pinions cannot be drilled without drawing the temper, but 
when this is necessary all traces of the blue should be re- 
moved, either by polishing with diamantine and oil, or by 
some good blue remover; one that acts well and quickly is 
made as follows: 

Aromatic sulphuric acid, ( 

^ , . ., ., -' Equal parts. 

Sweet spirits nitre, | 

This when applied to the steel parts that have been blued 
will remove the color very quickly, but in all cases where it 
is used great care must be used to remove all traces of the 
acid, otherwise the steel is liable to rust. By washing the 
article in dilute ammonia, after which it is placed in grain 
alcohol a moment, and lastly, dried in box-wood sawdust, no 
danger of rust need be feared. 

We should never draw the temper until we find it im- 
possible to drill without, although most American staffs and 
pinions are too hard to be drilled without drawing, as it is 
frequently necessary to do so we should adopt some method 
that will do the work quickly and easily with as little harm to 
the other parts as possible. There are a great many appli- 
ances on the market for this purpose, but few of them seem 
to meet our requirements. Copper should be used, as it is 
one of the best conductors of heat we have. The form is also 
quite important. Some use a piece of copper bent in the 
form at a, Fig. 1. This does the work fairly well, but has the 
disadvantage of not completely surrounding the staff, the heat 
being directly conducted only on two sides, and the ends be- 
ing square are liable to draw the arms of balance as well. 
About the best method is to have several pieces of copper 
wire with various sizes of holes drilled in them which will 
closely fit the part of the staff, or pinion, to be drawn. By 
sawing into the end through the center of the hole the wires 
may be closed enough to clamp the work firmly. The end 
of the copper wires should be rounded as shown at 6, Fig. 1. 
At c, is shown the wire in place on a staff. It will be noticed 
that by rounding the end of the wire it does not come in con- 
tact with the arm of the balance and is less liable to draw 

82 



PIVOTING. 

the arms than the bent wire with square ends would be. In 
drawing the temper of a staff the other end may be clamped 
in a pin-vise, or a pair of brass lined pliers, which will keep 
that part cool and prevent its being colored; the copper wire 
being placed upon the staff, we heat it very quickly by blow- 
ing the flame with a blowpipe upon the outer end. As soon 



^A 




r\ 



d 



i. 



OL 



fi 



rr 



Fig. I. 



as the steel is drawn the desired amount, the copper wire is 
at once removed, which will prevent any further drawing. 
V\/^hen this method is used there is no danger of affecting 
the balance in any manner. In order that our final work may 
be true, we must admit that the article to be pivoted must 
run perfectly true in the lathe; the chucks of our best Ameri- 

83 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

can lathes are now well and accurately made. If we can 
clamp our work in them so it will run perfectly true, there 
can be no objection to their use, but it so often happens that 
it is almost true, and we are tempted to let it go instead of 
using cement, our only accurate way when the chucks will 
not hold our work properly. When a staff, or pinion, runs 
true in the lathe, the light reflected from the surface will ap- 
pear perfectly still; but, should it not be true, the light re- 




:zz> 



Fig. 2. 



fleeted will waver. This is one of the most delicate ways 
of testing. The one important thing is, to have our work ab- 
solutely true, whether we use the chucks, or cement. There 
are many cases where nothing but cement can be used, for 
example: balance staffs, where hair-spring is underneath the 
balance, and those pinions where the wheel is very close 
to the end in both cases, only the pivot and a very small 
shoulder project beyond the wheel. In all cases of this kind 
when the pivot is broken on the opposite end, we must use 
cement, as there is no part to clamp a chuck upon. For work 
of this kind our cement chuck must have a very shallow cen- 
ter so the wheel will not touch the chuck when the pivot is 
resting at the bottom of the center as shown at a — Pig 2, 

84 



PIVOTING. 

the dotted lines showing the cement. When the piece has 
been trued, and the cement is yet warm the lathe should be 
kept in motion until the cement sets; otherwise our work 
may settle and be out of true. After our work is perfectly 
true we are ready for the most difficult task, drilling the 
hole for our pivot; it being understood that we have already 
taken our measurements for the length of the staff when 
completed, and also its length before placing in the cement, 
that we may know just how long to make the pivot. 

We come now to the most important part of the whole 




Fig- 3- 



operation, making the drill. Most watchmakers think it is 
not worth while to make their drills as they can be bought 
so cheaply, which is true, so far as cheapness is concerned, 
but most of them are dear at any price, as they will not per- 
form the work desired. My advice is to make all of your 
drills, if you wish to be successful with your pivoting, as 
you can soon learn to make a better drill than you can buy 
at any price. I would refer my readers to a former article 
on "Iron and Steel," as it will help them greatly in making 

85 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

the small drills. A thorough knowledge of the effect on the 
steel when hardened at high and low temperatures being very 
essential. A piece of steel so small needs some protection 
to prevent it from being burned while hardening. A small 
copper tube closed at one end, just large enough to hold the 
drill will protect it from contact with the flame and prevent 
it from being too quickly heated. Drills are made of many 
different shapes, each kind being used for some special work. 
We would not use the same kind of a drill for brass as we 
would for steel, neither would we use the same shaped one 
for hard and soft steel — the softer the metal the sharper the 
cutting angle and the harder the metal the more blunt vf.U 
the cutting edge be. 

In making our drills, we must select the very best grade 
of steel and when once familiar with a certain brand it is 
well to continue its use as another brand will not work the 
same. 

Stubs, or crescent steel, is always good, and any of the 
high grade American drill rods can be depended upon. There 
are some of the best English needles that make splendid 
drills, as it requires a high grade of steel to make a good 
needle. 

We can turn our drills down in the lathe like the ones 
we buy, a. Fig. 2, using about 1 m-m wire, hardening and 
grinding the sides flat; and the cutting edges on the end while 
hard. A better and easier way is to file them down tapering, 
slightly smaller than the finished drill is to be, using about 
.4 m-m wire as shown at b, Fig. 3, then by using a rounded 
surface stump in our bench block, as shown at c, same illus- 
tration; and resting the end of the wire upon it, and striking 
lightly with a hammer, the end will be enlarged and fiattened, 
as shown at d; by making the drill larger at the end it will 
give better clearance and is less liable to break, which is 
often caused by the chips filling the hole around the drill, 
making it heat and break. 

It is a good plan to harden the drills as soon as they are 
flattened, then by breaking off the point one can tell at once 
if they are hard, and the very point is the part that is liable 
to become burnt in hardening. The cutting edge may now 
be formed with the oilstone slip, making the shape of the 



PIVOTING. 

drill like e, Fig. 2, if to be used for soft steel, or like f — if to 
be used on very hard steel. If the drills are tempered at all 
they should be only slightly, as it is necessary to have them 
very hard. It is a good idea to leave the points nearly full 
hard, tempering the back part of the blade to a blue; this 
gives strength to drill, and also a good hard cutting edge as 
shown at g. The drill should project out of the pin-vise but 
little more than the depth of the hole to be drilled, by doing 
so there is less danger of breaking the drills, and we can give 
more pressure, which is quite important where the steel is 



1 




<3 



Fig. 4. 



hard. The pin-vise for all drilling should be light and strong. 
and must clamp the drill firmly. 

Many of the older workmen, who learned to do all of 
their work on the old bow lathe, think it impossible to do a 
hard job of pivoting on an American lathe. Let us see if we 
can find any reason for their argument; with the bow lathe 
the work is stationary and the drill revolves first forward, 
and then backward, caused by the motion of the bow. With 
the American lathe the work turns continuously in one di- 
rection; the drill is sharpened the same in both cases, round 
on the end; and sharpened on both sides as f, Fig 3. To il- 
lustrate the difference more clearly, suppose we rub our hand 

87 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

over a piece of broadcloth or velvet in one direction. It 
appears very smooth, and continues so as long as it is rubbed 
in the same direction. But should we rub it forward and 
backward the surface will remain rough and cannot be 
smoothed. This illustrates the advantage of the bow-lathe 



^Z3 



Zl 



V 



Fig- 5- 



over the more modern ones, as the drill by reversing its mo- 
tion keeps the surface rough and there is but little trouble 
about the drilling. While the American lathe turning con- 
stantly in one direction is liable to smooth the surface and 
also burnish it so the drill will not cut at all. We may over- 
come this difficulty in the modern lathes simply by running 



PIVOTING. 

the lathe first forward and then backward, when we have 
all the advantages of the bow-lathe without its defects. If 
at any time while drilling the drill fails to cut, and the metal 
becomes burnished, we can only succeed in cutting through 
the burnished part by sharpening our drill nearly square on 
the end, as shown at h, Fig. 4, when, in most cases, it will 
easly remove the burnished part, when it can be sharpened 
again as at first. 

Most workmen use too large drills, making the shell so 
thin that it is liable to crack when the plug is driven in to 
make the pivot. The drill to be used should be just a trifle 
larger than the hole in the jewel or plate that the finished 
pivot is to work in. The center in the staff, or pinion, should 
be small enough that the drill will cut it all out when the 
hole is drilled and the edges of the hole left perfectly square, 
as shown at a. Fig. 4. There should be no ring left around 
the pivot when finished. 

It is necessary to be very careful in fitting the plug for 
making the pivot; the steel should be hardened and tempered 
to a blue and filed down, having but a slight taper, it should 
go to the bottom of the hole without being tight; by taking 
a trifle from the end it will go to the bottom and bind slightly; 
by taking off just a little more we know it will hold well 
when driven to the bottom of the hole, and it is not large 
enough to split the shell. In some cases it will be difficult 
to make the plug hold well, as the moment we begin to turn 
down the plug it will begin to work out, caused usually by its 
not being quite true. I have overcome this difficulty by 
making the plugs out of needles, drawing them to a blue, and 
after driving them in placing the other end in a female center 
in the tail stock, b, Fig. 4. This supports the wire until the 
pivot has been turned true and cut off to nearly the correct 
length, after which there will be no further trouble. 

The method of grinding and polishing the pivots will be 
the same as that given in the article on staff-making. When 
replacing a square-shoulder pivot, it should be turned nearly 
down to size with a very sharp graver, the grinding being 
done with a bell metal grinder curved on one edge, and the 
corner filed often, the edge being kept sharp; otherwise the 

89 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

pivot will have the form shown at b, Fig. 5. It should be 
like c — perfectly square. 

Very often the pivots of a hollow Swiss center pinion toe- 
come badly worn, so much so that they would be too thin if 
ground smooth and polished. These can be nicely pivoted in 
the following manner: 

First, cut off the pivot at the shoulder and drill a hole 
a trifle larger than the pivot is to be when finished. The 
plug is fitted the same as for other pivots; before driving 
it in we drill a hole in the center slightly larger than the 
center square so that the friction necessary to carry the 
hands will be on the inside of the pinion and not on the 
pivot we have replaced. When nicely polished no one would 
ever suspect that it had been pivoted. 



90 




THE BALANCE OR 
HAIR SPRING. 




The Balance Spring, or as it is commonly called, the 
Hair Spring, is one of the most delicate parts of our time 
pieces, and upon its action depends much of the time keep- 
ing qualities. 

There are several forms in use, the most common be- 
ing, the flat spring found in the cheaper movements, the 
Breguet spring (named after the inventor) used in the best 
movements, which is far superior to the flat, and the cylin- 
drical spring used in marine chronometers and a few fine 
pocket watches. All of these springs are made from small 
wire, usually of steel, although for non-magnetic purposes, other 
metals have been used, palladium having given the best sat- 
isfaction for that purpose. Gold was tried, but nothing has 
yet been found that will give the satisfaction of steel. 

A few words about the method of making will help us 
to understand the delicate spring better. The wire is first 
drawn through jeweled draw plates, which leaves the sur- 
face smooth and highly polished, quite an -essential thing 
for a perfect spring. 

A box made of copper, the inside of which is turned out 
a trifle larger than the finished spring is to be, is shown in 
Fig. 1; through the edge of the box is cut three or four 
openings, three being used for a close coiled spring, and 
four for a more open one. An arbor with two grooves is 
also shown in the same illustration. The wire for the 
springs is placed in position as shown in Fig. 2, two pieces 
being used, each long enough for two springs, the center of 
these pieces of wire being placed through the grooves of the 
arbor, then passing out through the openings through the 
edge of the box as clearly shown. A copper cap fitting 
loosely into the recess holds the spring flat, while the arbor 
is wound. When the space is completely filled, the top is 
securely fastened with coarse binding wire, and the springs 
are ready to harden. II will be readily seen that we will 

91 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

have four complete springs, and that each spring will have 
three other springs, filling the space between its coils; 
every fourth coil representing one spring, should only three 




Fig. I. 



wires be used, then every third coil would be the same 
spring making the coils closer together. 

In hardening the box containing the spring is covered 
with some substance that will prevent the oxygen of the 
air from reaching the polished steel while heating, as Pot- 
assium Cyanide; it is now heated to a cherry red and cooled 
in water. If we can prevent the oxygen of the air oxidizing 
the steel while heating, it will come out of the box as bright 

92 



THE BALANCE OR HAIR SPRING. 

as it was after drawing, and may be blued at once. Should 
the surface become oxidized, then the springs must be care- 




Fig. 



fully polished by hand, when they can be nicely blued on a 
large flat piece of copper, which is evenly heated. We will 
not find it necessary to make springs often, yet it is impor- 

93 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

tant to understand how it is done. We will now endeavor 
to explain duties they are expected to perform. Fig. 3 
shows spring with collet and stud. 

The length of a pendulum of a clock determines its 
vibrations, so the strength of a balance spring will deter- 
mine the vibrations of the balance in a watch. We know 
we can vary the vibrations of a pendulum by making it 
longer or shorter, which is usually done by lowering or 
raising the weight, as we lower the weight, making it 
longer the clock will go slower as we raise the weight 
making it shorter, the clock will go faster; with a w^tch or 
any clock where the vibrations are controlled by a balance 
and hair spring similar principles are involved. If we 
lengthen the spring, our balance will vibrate slower, and if 
we shorten the spring, the balance will vibrate more rapid- 
ly. We should also understand the effect of adding more 
weight to the balance, or taking weight from it. When we 
add more weight it has the same effect on the balance as 
lengthening the pendulum, making the vibrations slower; 
the opposite effect being produced when we remove weight 
from the balance. Should we have a watch that is running 
too fast and the spring cannot be lengthened, we can bring 
it to time by adding another pair of screws, being particular 
to have them of the same weight, otherwise the balance will 
be thrown out of poise. Many of the best watches have four 
screws placed at the quarters that are different from the 
others, the heads being shorter and the threads longer and 
fitting the holes more closely, having friction enough to hold 
them in any position they are placed. These screws called 
the timing screws, are used in bringing the watch to time. 
Should it gain, the screws would be turned out, the weight 
will be removed farther from the center, and will cause the 
vibrations to be made more slowly, on the contrary, if the 
screws are turned in, the weight will be brought nearer the 
center, causing the vibrations to be made in less time, mak- 
ing the watch run faster. 

Some balances have only two of these screws, one at 
the end of each arm; if there are two or four, it is neces- 
sary to turn the two opposite ones the same amount, other- 
wise the balance would be thrown out of poise. 

94 



THE BALANCE OR HAIR SPRING. 

With a pendulum, the force of gravity acting upon it, 
has a tendency to bring it to rest when once put in motion. 
The balance spring acts very much like the force of gravity, 
its action on the balance always bringing it to rest, so 
that a balance set in motion soon comes to rest if not acted 
upon by some other force that will keep it in motion. 

The springs in common used are 

a. The flat, ' ' 

b. The Breguet and 

c. The Cylindrical. 

The flat spring is used in the cheaper movements, and 
is the most simple form. 

The Breguet or overcoil spring is superior in many ways 
to the flat and are nearly always used in the better grades 
of watches. Some are made from flat springs by bending 
up the outside coil, then bending it down again, bringing 
the upper coil flat with main part of the spring, the height 
of the overcoil being determined by the position of the stud 
in the balance cock. Some are hardened in form. The 
cylindrical spring is not often used in watches, although 
some of the finest ones are fitted with them. These springs 
are used in marine chronometers in preference to all others. 

Nearly all watches we have to fit springs in, have a fast 
train or 18,000 vibrations per hour, but as some of them 
have 16,200 and some 14,400 vibrations per hour, it is quite 
important that we understand how to find the vibrations 
the balance will make in a given time. The second hand 
makes one revolution every minute. It is carried by the 
fourth wheel which must make a revolution in the same 
time. We have a starting point now to work from. The 
teeth of the fourth wheel divided by the leaves of the es- 
cape pinion, will give the number of revolutions of the es- 
cape wheel per minute. Every tooth of the escape wheel, 

95 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. - 

gives impulse to each pallet, therefore, for one revolution 
of the escape wheel, there must be twice as many impulses 
as there are teeth in the wheej^. The usual number of teeth 
is fifteen, so there would be thirty impulses or vibrations .to 
each revolution of the escape wheel. Then in order to find 
the number of vibrations of any balance per minute, we 
would divide the number of teeth in the fourth wheel by 
the number of leaves in the escape pinion, and multiply thiS' 
product by twice the number of teeth in the escape wheel, 
for example. 

Fourth wheel has 80 teeth. 
Escape pinion has 8 leaves."^ 
Escape wheel has 15 teeth. 



lO 

'Sqxso 



X 



300 vibrations per minute, 



Fourtli wheel has 63 teeth. 
Escape pinion has 7 leaves. 
Escape wheel has 15 teeth. 



9 

X 



= 270 vibrations per minute. 



Fourth wheel has 80 teeth. 
96 



THE BALANCE OR HAIR SPRING. 

Escape pinion has 10 leaves. 
Escape wheel has 15 teeth. 



■ — =240 vibrations per minute. 

After determining the number of vibrations the balance 
must make in a given time (usually a minute) we are ready 




Fig. 3- 

to select our spring; experience will aid us greatly in this 
task, as it is only by doing a certain piece of work often that 

97 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

we are able to do it quickly and well. It is so in fitting hair 
springs. There are numerous guages for testing the strength 
of the springs, also vibrators for timing them, but as the 
majority of workmen do not possess these, they will not be 
considered at present, but the method given will be one that 
any ordinary workman may fellow with good success, provid- 
ing each step is carefully done. 

It is well to become quite proficient with the flat springs 
before attempting the more difficult Breguet springs. It is 
best to buy the springs without collets, as the old collet Is 
usually in good shape and fits, while a spring of the proper 
strength will seldom have a collet fitting the staff, if we buy 
them already colletted. 

Many watchmakers think it a very difficult task to 
replace a hair spring, as it is such a delicate job. This is 
true to a certain extent, but it only requires carefulness, the 
same as with many other delicate operations the watch- 
maker is so often required to do, and I am sure if the follow- 
ing method is carried out, many who have dreaded the 
thought of "springing" will do it with ease and pleasure. 

Our first step will be to select a spring that to the best 
of our judgment will be the one that will vibrate correctly. 
It may be too strong, it may be too weak; to determine that, 
we lay the spring upon the balance cock with the center of 
it exactly over the center of the hole jewel, and notice which 
coil comes over the inner regulator pin, as we cannot use 
a larger spring than this (we could use one slightly smaller 
however). It is not necessary to collet the spring until we 
know the strength is correct. To count the vibrations, we 
place the spring in position on the balance, slip the collet on 
the staff and press it down until it holds the inner coil firmly 
upon the balance arm. We now clamp the coil of the spring 
that came over the inner regulator pin lightly in a pair of 
tweezers with fine points, and set the balance in motion, 
allowing the lower pivot of the staff to rest upon a smooth 
surface, a watch glass will answer the purpose nicely. The 
vibrations may now be counted for a minute. We only count 
each alternate vibration, or one-half of the number we found 
by calculation. The reason for this is, we count the vibra- 
tions each time the balance arm stops at a certain place, but 

98 . . 



THE BALANCE OR HAIR SPRING. 

the spring has made two vibrations during that time, in 
other words, we only count as the balance turns in one. 
direction, so we will take one-half of the number of vibia- 
tions we found the watch to have, for example, we have a 
fast train, 18,000 vibrations an hour or 300 per minute. We 
take one-half of 300, which is 150, the single vibration for 
one minute. 

We count the spring for one minute, and And the vibra- 
tions to be too many. We know at once the spring is too 
strong, and cannot be used. The collet is now removed, and 
the spring may be replaced in the original paper unharmed, 




Fig. 4. 



and a weaker one selected. After two or three trials, one 
should be able to find a spring of the proper strength. It 
will be readily seen that by this method the first time a 
spring is vibrated, it will be known whether it will do or 
not, and another can be quickly tried and counted. 

A word about counting. I said count for one minute; 
many think a half or a quarter minute will do as well, no, 
for several reasons. The second hand must make a revolu- 
tion in one minute; it should go half way around the dial 
in one-half a minute, theoretically it would, but often in 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

actual practice, it does not. Ttiis, will seem strange to 
those who have not noticed it careiuily. 'io prove my state- 
ment, the drawing (Fig.\3) has been made to represent the 
dial for the second-hand, this dial is supposed to be cor- 
rectly spaced, although many dials are not at all accurate, 
but we admit in this case, that the dial is a perfect one, no 
cause for complaint from that source, but in fitting the dial 
to the movement, the fourth pivot that carries the second- 
hand was not located exactly in the center of the dial. The 
two figures 60 and 30, and the dots representing them, are 
directly opposite, a line drawn from one to the other will 
divide the dial into two equal parts, but the pivot of the 
fourth wheel is at the left of this line as shown. A line is 
drawn through this pivot parallel to the one from 60 to 30, 
which shows the position of the second-hand when it has 
made one-half of a revolution. The drawing is somewhat 
exaggerated. To show it more plainly, the line of the second 
hand passes through the 59th and 31st second, the result is 



Fig. 5- 

that during the first half of the revolution of the hand, it 
would register 32 seconds, and during the last half it would 
register only 28 seconds, so if we should count our spring 
during the first half minute and then count again during the 
second half, it would be impossible to get them the same, 
and would surely confuse us in determining the vibrations of 
our spring. To avoid this, I always count for one, two or 
three minutes. Another very important point about counting, 
it is only natural for one to begin the count when the second 
hand reaches 60 or any other point on the dial, and ending 
the count at the same point, by so doing we gain one count 
every time, as at the start we counted one before a vibration 
had been made, we must allow for this extra count either at 
the beginning or at the end; I think best to get the motion 

100 



THE BALANCE OR HAIR SPRING. 

of the balance a tew seconds before we are to begin actual 
counting, or wliat is still better, count one, two, tiiree, lour, 
etc., watching carefully which count comes at (JO. Then 
begin wath one again, as — one, two, three, four (60) one, two, 
three, etc., by so doing, we get the motion of the balance 
thoroughly in mind, and we are able to make a very accur- 
ate count, when we find the point where the vibrations are 
correct, we can make a slight bend in the spring to locate 
the place, and we are ready to fit our spring to the collet, 
this is not a difficult operation, but requires a steady nerve 
and care. 

In most cases the center of the spring must be broken 
out to fit the collet, there should be enough broken out that 
when the collet is placed in the center, the space between it 
and the inside coil of the spring should be about the same 
as the space between two coils of the spring. The inner end 
should be bent at such an angle that it fits nicely into the 
hole in the collet, leaving the spring as true as possible when 
pinned in. 

There are several methods of holding the collet, while 
pinning in the spring, only one will be given at present, 
which is quite an old one but works well in most cases. 
Photographs of a newer and still better device will follow 
in the next article. Most watchmakers slip the collet on a 
broach or a round file while pinning in the spring, this is not 
\ ery satisfactory but a piece of wire about 3 m-m in diameter 
turned as shown in Fig. '4 does the work much better than 
the file or broach, and should be used for no other purpose. 
It is best made by hardening the wire and tempering to a 
blue, turning to shape afterwards; this insures it being true, 
while if it should be turned first and then hardened, it is 
liable to spring while hardening, thus rendering it unfit for 
use. The taper where the collet is held should be draw- 
filed until it is quite rough, this is important as it prevents 
the collet from turning when the pin is being forced in. 

The kind of brass wire used in making the pins is quite 
an important item. We should select the hardest brass we 
can get, as it should break before it will bend, most of the 
wire furnished by the material houses is altogether too soft, 
the best I have yet found is a good quality of ordinary brass 

101 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

pins which may be bought for a lew cents and answer our 
purpose splendidly. They should be filed down to a long, 
slim taper. 

To pin in the spring, slip the collet upon the colletter 
pressing it down firmly upon the taper, slip the end of the 
spring in the hole in the collet being careful of course to 
have the spring enter from the proper side, then insert the 
pin from the underside of the spring, allowing the point to 
come through under the spring on the opposite side, keeping 
the spring as nearly level as possible while pinning it in. 
I he pin is forced in as firmly as possible, now bend the pm 
at right angles with the colletter (the pin being yet in the 
pin-vise) then by a twist of the pin-vise, it may be broken 
off just outside of the collet. Take a good stiff pair of 
tweezers placing one point on the broken end of the pin and 
the other point on the opposite side of the coilet, and force 
the end in until it is even with the surface of the collet. The 
spring will now be perfectly solid, the projecting end of the 
pin may now be cut off with a sharp knife, it being on the 
underside of the spring, we raise the spring with the knife 
blade, and cut the end close to the collet. By cutting in this 
manner, the collet can not slip as the pressure forces it stil) 
more tightly on the taper. 

The spring may now be bent so it is as true to the eye 
as possible in the flat and round, when it may be removed 
from the colletter and placed upon our balance wheel where 
the final cruing should always be done in the calipers. 

Before explaining how to true the spring, I will explain 
another method of pinning in the spring mentioned in the 
former pages. The taper which held the collet is liable to 
spread it, making it too large to fit the staff; it is necessary 
to force the collet on to the taper in order to have friction 
enougli to prevent it from turning, so this method has the 
disadvantage of enlarging the hole in collet, which must be 
closed by bending; this is liable to damage the spring. To 
overcome this difficulty, the tools shown in Figs. 1 and 2 were 
made; both work on the same principle, clamping the collet 
on the top and bottom instead -of depending oh the friction 
as before. It will be readily seen that it is possible to hold 
the collet solid enough to force a pin in until the spring will 

102 



THE BALANCE OR HAIR SPRING. 

be held very solidly without any danger of the collet turn- 
ing or slipping. By using the one in Fig. 2 we can partly 
true the spring before taking from the coUetter; in fact, we 




Fig. I. 



Fig. 2. 



can do the most of it. The truing of the spring is a very 
difficult task to most workmen, but should not be so. The 
springs as made, represent a perfect spiral, each coil grad- 
ually receding from the center; this being the case, if the 
spring- is perfectly centered, placed on the staff and revolved 

103 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

in the calipers, the coils would appear to move from the cen- 
ter to the outer end, or from the outer end to the center; it 
depending upon which direction we should turn the spring. 
Perhaps this may be better understood by watching a long 
screw as it revolves in the lathe; the threads appear to run 
from one end to the other; in fact, that is exactly what they 



/'^ 










/ ' /x- 


'- ~N^ \ 


1 ^'{if 


/--A \ \ 


; ?i|— 4 

1 \ M ^ 


*) 1 






^^ J J 


\ ^^x.*^ 


1 ^^'^^ / 


N 


1 



Fig- 3- 



do, as the thread of the screw is a spiral Avound around a 
cylinder; when our spring is true on the balance, it will 
have the same appearance as the screw threads in the lathe, 
only the coils will appear to' run from the outside to the 
center, or from the center to the outside of the spring. As 
the coils of the spring are true when made, we must only 
bend the inner coil to do our truing, and only the first quar- 
ter coil of this should be bent, so in truing in the round, we 

104 



THE BALANCE OR HAIR SPRING. 

should not bend our spring beyond a quarter of a coil from 
the point where it is pinned in. This can be better under- 
stood from Fig. 3, the line a. b. passes through the point 
where the spring is pinned in, the line a. c. is one-fourth of a 
turn from it. Our bending must be done from the point 
where it leaves the collet d, to the point e. Should the spring 




Fig. 4. 



be out of center as indicated by the dotted line ff., then 
the spring should be bent about half way between d. and e, 
which would throw the whole spring toward the right, 
bringing it nearer its correct position— shown by the heavy 
line. Should it be in the position sho .V7i by the dotted line 
g. g., then it should be bent at the same point, but in the 
opposite direction, away from the collet. 

105 



A few trials will 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

enable any one to true a spring easily. We should have a 
very fine pointed pair of tweezers fitted up for hair spring 
work and use them for nothing else. We will have no dif- 
ficulty bending a spring away from the collet, but it is 
rather difficult at times to bend a spring towards the collet, 
as when we bend it that way, the elacticity of the spring 




Fig. 5- 



brings it back again to nearly the former position; to over- 
come this difficulty we may bend it as shown in Fig. 4. We 
wish to bend it at a, but as we make the bend it immediately 
springs back again, we insert the fine point of a needle or 
file down a small piece of wire and insert as shown in the 
drawing. This acts as a fulcrum, and with our tweezers act- 

106 



THE BALANCE OR HAIR SPRING. 

ing just beyond that point, we are able to make the benu 
without further trouble. 

"When our spring is nut true, and we revolve it in the 
callipers while it is on the staff, we will notice each time it 




Fig. 6. 



makes a revolution, that one side seems to be thrown from 
the center and the other side toward the center. We should 
not try to watch each separate coil, but see the spring as a 
whole. It would be better to liken the spring to a rouna 
disc, if it were not revolving from the center, it could be 
easily noticed, even so with the spring, the trained eye can 

107 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

as quickly see which side is thrown out, and it is only ne- 
cessary to bend at the inner coil to bring it true. 

it is an easy matter to true a spring in the fiat, as we 
can usually raise it up on the low side, or bend it down on 
the high side by a gentle pressure with the tweezers. There 
are times, however, when the spring seems a trifle stubborn, 
and we must bend it by taking the inside coil in our fine 
pointed tweezers and twisting enough to bring it flat near 
the point where it is pinned in. 

When our spring is true in the flat and round on the 
balance, it is ready to pin in the stud, and all the rest of the 
truing necessary to bring the spring perfectly flat, can be 
done by bending the outer coil at or near the stud after pin- 
ning it in the stud as flat as possible. The regulator should 
be placed on the slow side, and the outside coil of the spring 
so bent that it will vibrate between the pins in the regu- 
lator; then move the regulator toward the fast side, bend- 
ing the spring just ahead of the pins until the outer coil of 
the spring will vibrate between the pins the full sweep of 
the regulator; when this has been accomplished, we should 
?ee that the coils of the spring (when the balance is at rest), 
are the same distance apart on all sides; should they be 
close on one side and far apart on the other, we should cor- 
rect them by bending the outer coil just beyond the regula- 
tor pins. The spring should never be "cup shaped," whicn 
is caused by the stud being too high, or the hole in the collet 
too low. The hole in the stud should be exactly the same 
height as the hole in the collet, otherwise the spring cannot 
lie flat in the watch; theoretically, when the spring is pinned 
in the collet and stud, and the balance is at rest in the 
watch, there should be no strain upon the spring in any 
direction, as every part is in a state of rest. This being 
so, the spring must be flat, and the coils on all sides must be 
the same distance apart. 

It may be well to state here the effect the regulartor pins 
have upon the timing of a watch, as the rate may be varied 
much more than most workmen think by them. If we make 
the space between the pins so the spring is just free, hav- 
ing no play, then the spring will stop its vibrations at that 
point, and will run faster; now open the pins until the spring 

108 



THE BALANCE OR HAIR SPRING. 

may vibrate freely between them and the watch will begin 
to lose. Again while the pins are far enough apart to allow 
the spring to vibrate freely between them, bend the spring 
so it will rest against one pin when the balance is at rest, 
but will also vibrate between the pins when the balance 
makes it fufl vibration; in this case the watch will lose when 
making its long vibrafons or when first wound up, and gain 
during the short vibrations or when it is nearly run down. 
These little things change the rate of a watch so greatly 
they should be well understood; to illustrate this more fully, 
an incident in my own experience may be mentioned: A 
gentleman who owned a very fine watch came into the store 
and stated that the regulator was not in the center on his 
watch, and asked if I could make the watch keep time and 
have the regulator where it should be. After examining the 
curb pins, and seeing they were far apart and the regulator 
on the fast side, nold him it could easily be done. I bent 
the pins closely together, barely allowing the spring to vi- 
brate between them; then, while he was watching, broughi 
the regulator to the center, moving toward the slow side 
nearly half the width of the balance cock. I handed him 
his watch, stating that if he would come in the next day, the 
watch would in all prohability be a little fast; he looked at 
me in a way that said very plainly, "I don't believe it," but 
went his way, and the following day came in and compared 
with the chronometer, and to his surprise, he was nearly 
two minutes fast. The balance of the regulating was done 
by gradually opening the curb pins until the watch was 
l)rought to time, and the regulator still remained in the 
center. It is needless to say, from that day forward, I 
had another friend. When the watch was nearly regulated, 
I explained the principle very carefully to him, and he fully 
appreciated it. 

A few years ago only the very highest grade move- 
ments had the Breguet or overcoil springs, but today nearly 
every movement has them. They are much more difficult 
to handle than the flat springs, but if the latter has been 
mastered, the former may soon be. 

Fig. 5 shows a Breguet spring as seen from the top and 
also from the side, showing the elbow or double bend. There 

109 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

are a great many forms of these springs, but the principle 
is the same in them all. A larger number of coils are used 
than in the flat, and a greater latitude is allowable in selecting 
our springs, the regulator pins being nearer the center than 
the outside of the spring. The overcoil must be brought to- 
ward the center in order to pass through the pins and vi- 
brate between them. After selecting a spring of the proper 
strength and pinning in the collet, by placing the center of the 
collet over the balance jewel, we notice which coil of the 
spring comes over the regulator pins, and that is the coil 
the overcoil should follow. We usually say the overcoil 
should follow this coil, but it should not, as can be readily 
seen by looking at Fig. 5. The overcoil does not follow one 
of the coils of the spring, but is the same distance from the 
center at all points, while the coils of the spring being a 
spiral, are not the same distance at any two points, hence 
the spring; could not follow a coil, and also follow the 
sweep of the regulator, which it must do in order to vibrate 
between the pins. The height of the overcoil is determined 
by the distance the hole in the stud is above the hole in 
the collet. Should the overcoil be too high, the spring will 
be low at the outside, and should it be too low, the spring 
will be high at the outer edge.. What was said of the flat 
spring is also true of the Breguet when it is pinned in and 
true in the flat and round, there should be no strain on the 
spring at any point, but it should be in a perfect state of 
equilibrium. 

The Breguet spring is superior to the flat one in many 
ways. The most important point being the absence of side 
pressure on the pivots. On account of the overcoil being 
pinned in near the center of the spring the coils open out 
more evenly, and there is but a very small amount of side 
pressure upon the pivot, which is very helpful to the close 
timing of a watch. The spring should be pinned in at about 
equal turns as shown in Fig. 5 by the dotted line. The point 
where the spring enters the collet and the point passing 
through the curb pins are in line. In order to make the 
spring isochronal, we must at times vary this rule by pin- 
ning in some cases a trifle less, and in others a trifle more 
than equal turns in order that the long and short vibrations 

110 



THE BALANCE OR HAIR SPRING. 

may be made in the same time. More will be said about this 
when we get to adjusting. 

The overcoils are made in a great many different forms, 
each having a different effect on the timing. 




Fig. 7. 



Fig. 6 is a photograph of a Breguet spring showing the 
overcoil very plainly, and Fig. 7 is a side view of the same 
spring, showing the elbow; it will be noticed that the spring 
is not flat, the outer coils being lov/er than the center. This 

111 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

is caused by the weight of the spring, and should always be 
considered when timing a watch in different positions, as in 
many cases, particularly with the Breguet springs, the 
coils will rub on the end of the stud in one position, while in 
the opposite position they seem to and do clear the stud 
easily; this is the cause of much irregular running. We 
should also be very careful that the second coil in a flat 
spring does not strike the inner regulator pin, particularly 
when the balance is making its full vibrations, as this has a 
tendency to make the watch gain time. 

Much trouble is experienced by two coils catching in the 
regulator pins. This can be overcome by making the curb 
pins just long enough to reach nearly to the bottom of the 
spring, and allow but little space between them. Should an- 
other coil by a sudden jar be thrown over the pins, it will 
at once resume its normal position. 




112 



;o^./v,oocnp>vrnc>o^/*^''"^"co^;'\r/;cnD^A,^c^CQ^'\x«c^ '"-CT' 



THE LEVER ESCAPEMENT. 




There has been so much written about the Lever Escape- 
ment in the past that there seems to be no field for new 
thought at the present time, but when we realize that over 
ninety per cent of the watches in use to-day have the lever es- 
capement, and that it seems to puzzle many watchmakers to 
locate difficulties, one may be pardoned for trying to add a 
little to what has already been said on the subject. It will be 
the aim of the writer to present practical points that will 
greatly help the beginner, and possibly improve the methods 
of the more advanced workman. These points will be illus- 
trated in such a way that they can be clearly seen, by draw- 
ings, and by photographs of actual escapements, showing their 
good and bad points. 

In order to be able to understand the escapement, we must 
know the names of the different parts, and what duties they 
are expected to perform. Some parts are known by several 
names, and we should be familiar with them all. For the 
present, we will only speak of the escape wheel and pallets. 
We have two kinds of escape wheels, those used in the Eng- 
lish lever watches called the pointed tooth, where all of the im- 
pulse is on the pallets, and the kind used in nearly all watches 
to-day, the club tooth, where the impulse is divided, part be- 
ing on the teeth of the wheel, and the remainder on the pal- 
lets. In the former the points of the teeth are liable to be- 
come bent, which would greatly interfere with the running of 
the watch. The club-tooth is stronger, and less liable to dam- 
age while in the hands of a careless workman. 

The impulse or lift is given by the inclined planes of the 
escape wheel teeth acting against the inclined planes of the 
pallet stones in the club-tooth escapement, and the point of the 
tooth acting against and passing over the inclined plane of 
the pallet stone in the pointed tooth escapement. By the draw- 
ing, Fig. 1, we are able to better understand the principle and 
the manner in which the impulse is imparted from the tooth 

113 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

of the wheel to the pallet stone. Let W represent a wedge, 
which is a form of an inclined plane, resting on the block A, 
At B a piece resting upon the wedge W, but free to move in 
the direction of the arrow. By moving the wedge to the right 
as indicated by the arrow, the piece B will move upwards as 
shown. 

In an escapement we have similar principles, but in no 
case does any part move in a straight line. The pallets move 



i? 



i 



/> 




Fig. I. 



in a circular direction, having for their center the pallet ar- 
bor. The teeth of the wheel also move in a circular direction, 
having for their center the escape pinion. All these points 
move in a circular direction and many complications arise 
which makes the escapement hard to understand, and is liable 
to confuse one. For instance, it is rather difficult to under- 

114 



THE LEVER ESCAPEMENT. 

stand that if we move one pallet stone out, that it will in- 
crease the lock on both pallet stones as much as we set the 
one out, or should we set either stone back, the locking on 
each will be decreased exactly the same amount. This will be 
gone into more in detail a little later. 

The pallet arbor being the center from which the pallets 
rotate, we can see as one pallet stone is moving out, the other 
must be moving in. As it will be necessary for many of our 
drawings and actions to be shown by degrees, we should all 
understand what is meant by a degree. We know that all cir- 
cles have the same number of degrees (360), but only circles 
of the same diameters have degrees of the same size. A ae- 
gree is one of the 360 equal parts of the circumference of a 
circle. A right angle contains 90 degrees or one-fourth of a 
circle. 

If one end of our pallet arm should move outward one 
degree, then the other end must move in one degree, even if 
the two arms should not be the same length. For this reason 
one of the pallet stones has a greater angle than the other. 
One pallet arm being longer than the other the angle will be 
greater as the degrees on a circle of that size are larger than 
those of a circle the size of shorter arm. 

Fig 2 shows the pallets used in most lever escape- 
ments. The pallet steel or pallets, as they are commonly 
called is shown at A, the pallet stones, R. and L., the locking 
ing faces (a) and the impulse faces (b). 

We have many different names for the pallet stones, for 
short we say the "R." and "L.," meaning the receiving and 
let off, also called engaging and discharging. We will speak 
of them as the R. and L., or receiving and let off. The tooth of 
the wheel locks against the locking face of the stone (a) 
while the balance makes its vibration. As the tooth of the 
wheel slides across the face (&), it gives the balance its im- 
pulse. 

The amount of locking the pallets have is a very import- 
ant thing for the good performance of a watch. If it is too 
little, the teeth are liable to fall upon the impulse face, a very 
serious defect; on the other hand, if the locking is excessive, 
then too much power is required in unlocking, and all power 
thus used is just that much less for the impulse to the balance. 

115 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 



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116 



THE LEVER ESCAPEMENT. 

We should' have the proper amount of locking in our mind, so 
that the moment we glance at the lock on a pallet stone, we 
can instantly tell if it is correct or not. In order to aid us in 




Fig. 3- 



getting this point thoroughly impressed upon our mind, the 
drawing shown in Fig. 3 has been made. The R. stone is di- 
vided into six equal parts shown by the dotted lines length- 
wise. The amount of the Ibck should be equal to the width of 

117 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

one of these spaces, or in other words, the amount of lock 
should be about one-sixth the width of the impulse face of the 
pallet stones in the club-tooth escapement. In Fig. 3 a tooth 




Fig. 4. 



is shown locking the proper amount. The locking is denoted 
also by the dotted line crossing the stone. (a-b) The L 
stone is also shown by the side of the R. stone. Its greater 
angle is clearly seen, but we will learn later that each of them 

118 



THE LEVER ESCAPEMENT. 

have the same number of degrees of impulse or lift. The real 
impulse is greater than it appears on account of the circular 
movement of the pallets and wheel, for instance the inclined 
plane would seem to be that shown by drawing a line at right 
angles to the locking face as (b-c), but in reality, the inclined 
plane would go to the line c. d. If the R. stone should have a 
perfectly square face, there would still be some impulse. This 
can be better shown in Fig. 4, where all of the lift or impulse 
is on the pallet stone. The wheel moves in the direction the 
arrow indicates; the dotted line shows the path of the points 
of the teeth, the point of the tooth is locking against the pallet 
stone the proper amount, it will continue to lock until the cor- 
ner of the pallet stone is raised above the point of the tooth 
when the tooth at once acts upon the impulse face of the stone. 
The dotted line a. h. represents the surface the stone would 
have and allow the tooth to pass over without giving it any im- 
pulse, so the triangle a. h. c. represents the wedge or inclined 
plane of the pallet stone. The locking face of the stone is set 
at such an angle that the wheel must recoil slightly in un- 
locking. This angle keeps the lever against the banking pins, 
and also prevents the guard pin from coming in contact with 
the roller. When this takes place, we say, the pallet stone 
has "draw" or "draft." The locking corner of the pallet stone 
is always on the dotted circle d. d. and the let off corner is al- 
ways the same distance from the center of the arbor as shown 
in the drawing, and can not change when the pallets are 
moved in different positions. Fig. 5 shows this point in a 
very clear manner. A is the center of the escape wheel, P 
the center of the pallets or pallet arbor. The larger dotted 
circle represents the circumference of the wheel, and the 
smaller one the path of the locking corners of the pallet 
stones. They must always be the same distance from the cen- 
ter of the pallet arbor. If all points on the locking face of 
pallet stones were the same distance from pallet arbor, we 
would have a "dead beat" escapement, i. e., one which has 
no recoil in unlocking. Some of the first escapements were 
made of this form, such a locking face is denoted by the 
solid curved line d. g. and d\ g\ We must bear in mind that 
in most cases the R. and L. stones act entirely dinerent, for 
instance the locking face of the R. stone is shown by the line 

119 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 




120 



THE LEVER ESCAPEMENT. 

d. f. and is inside of the circle. For the L. stone the line d\ f. 
shows the locking face and is outside of the circle. This is a 
very important point, and all should study it until it is well 
understood. Should the locking faces of our pallet stones be 
set on the lines d. e. and d\ e\, we would have no draw, but 
would give impulse instead; in fact, it w^ould have impulse if 
set outside of the circle on the R. stone or inside of the circle 
on the L. stone. If they are set on the circle, they would 
have neither draw nor impulse, being a "deau beat," and if 
the R. stone is set inside of the circle, and the L. stone outside 
of the circle, we will have draw. The greater the angle on 
which the stones are set, the greater the amount of draw to the 
pallet stones. There should be just draw enough to hold the 
lever against the banking pins, and if we bring the lever away 
from the pins, but not enough to unlock, there should be suf- 
ficient draw to immediately bring the lever back to the bank- 
ing pin again. If the draw is excessive, then it will take too 
much force to unlock the pallets, and such loss of power must 
reduce the motion of the balance. When the escapement is 
analyzed more fully, these points will be understood without 
any difficulty. 

In the drawing {Fig 5) the heavy lines show the founda- 
tion on which all lever escapements are built, the opening of 
the pallets 60° is found by laying off one line 30° to the right, 
and the other 30° to the left; the other two lines are at right 
angles to them at the circumference of the wheel, and where 
they cross the center line locates the pallet arbor. This should 
be clear before attempting to draw an escapement. There is 
no way of learning the principles of an escapement, and no 
way of impressing it upon the mind thoroughly like drawing 
one correctly and knowing why the lines are drawn at certain 
angles, etc. This will be one of the features of these articles 
on the "Lever Escapement," and my advice to all who can 
possibly do so, is to make the drawing when such are ex- 
plained, even if in only a crude manner, as it will bring out 
new points never before noticed. 

Fig. 6 shows a club-tooth locking the correct amount at a 
If this drawing is kept in mind, one can tell the moment the 
escapement is examined whether the locking is correct or not. 
At 1). is seen the pallet stone after it has moved upwards 

121 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 





THE LEVER ESCAPEMENT. 

enough to unlock the tooth, and it is just ready to give "im- 
pulse" or "lift." As the tooth moves forward, the pallet is 
forced upward by the combined action of the impulse face of 
the tooth and that of the pallet stone. When the back of the 
tooth passes off from the let-off corner of the stone the wheel 
is perfectly free for a moment, and the "drop" occurs, this 
drop should be the same when a tooth leaves the "R." stone as 
when one leaves the "L." stone, otherwise we would have un- 
equal drop, and a watch would sound as though it were out of 
beat. When a tooth leaves the "R." stone, we have the inside 
drop, and when a tooth leaves the "L." stone, we have the 
outside drop ,■ should this be the greatest, it may be corrected 
by moving the pallet stones farther apart. Ir the inside drop 
is the greatest, then it would be corrected by bringing the 
stones closer together. A point here should be well under- 
stood; in either of the above cases, we must move the stone 
only one-half as much as we desire to change the drop. If we 
desire to decrease the inside drop, and we bring the stones 
closer together, say 1-10 of a millimeter, we have decreased 
the inside drop that amount, but we have also increased the 
outside drop the same amount, making a difference of 2-10 of 
a millimeter. Prom this we learn to only move the stones 
one-half as much as we desire to change the drop. 

Another point that is hard for some to understand, and 
will be repeated frequently to impress it on our mind is this: 
If one pallet stone is, set out or toward the wheel, or away 
from it, it will increase or decrease the locking on hotli pallet 
stones just as much as either one is moved. Should the lock- 
ing be too light and one stone is s^t out, it would increase the 
locking enough perhaps, but if the watch was in line at first, 
it would be thrown out of line by moving only one stone, so it 
would be necessary in order to keep our watch in line to set 
each stone out one-Jialf as much as we desire to increase the 
lock. Some think the locking may be increased by opening 
the banking pins. This is not so, as the locking is determined 
by the position of the pallet stones. By opening the banking 
pins, the locking appears greater as the "draw" causes the 
"run," the run is the movement of the pallets after the lock. 
If the watch is banked to the drop, there will be no run, but 
as the banking pins are opened, the lever is allowed greater 

123 



MODERN METHODS TN HOROLOGY. 

angular motion, and the draw of the pallet stones holds the 
lever against the banking pins. Some of these terms are a 
trifle confusing, but with the series of photographs which 
will follow, these difficulties should disappear. 

DRAWING THE ESCAPE WHEEL AND PALLETS. 

It will be necessary for us to have a few drawing instru- 
ments, and understand their use before we can attempt to 
draw any part of the escapement. A very good set of instru- 
ments may be bought for a few dollars. We can get along 
for the present, however, with a drawing-board a trifle larger 
than our drawings are to be when completed; 18x24 inches will 
be a convenient size. This board should have the ends and 
sides right angles to each other, or at least the bottom and ' 
left hand side should be so. A T-square with the blade as long 
as the board, a pair of dividers, a combined pen and pencil 
dividers, two triangles, one 45''-90° or right angle, the other 
30'°-60°-90'°; a good protractor divided into % degress; a set of 
thumbtacks and some good drawing paper. With the tools men- 
tioned, we will be able to make good pencil drawings. Then 
if we wish to ink them in, we will require a bottle of Higgins' 
India ink and a bow pen. 

The triangles and protractor are more convenient if made 
of celluloid, as they are transparent and we can use them to 
better advantage. We can get a triangle (right angle) and 
protractor combined, which is very satisfactory. 

Figure 1 shows the drawing board A. and the various 
instruments one should have to start; the better the quality 
of the instruments, the better the work may be expected, but 
to begin with, cheap ones may be used, although they are not 
so accurate. On the drawing board is shown the following: 

B. T square. 

C. Right angle, triangle and protractor combined. 

D. 30°-60°-90° triangle. 
B. Dividers. 

F. Pen and pencil dividers. 

G. Hard pencil. 
H. Pencil eraser. 

I. Paper with thumbtack in each corner. 
J. Metric Ruler. 

124 



THE LEVER ESCAPEMENT. 

It will be necessary for us to understand the geometrical 
terms used in order to follow the drawing intelligently. In 
order that the reader may become more familiar with the 
terms, they are defined as follows: 

1. A point has neither length, breadth or thickness, and 
shows position only. 

2. A line has but one dimension — length. 

3. A straight line is one that does not change its direc- 
tion throughout its length. 

4. A curved line changes its direction at every point. 

5. A broken line is made of several straight lines, hav- 
ing different directions. 

6. Parallel lines are the same distance from each other 
at all points. 

7. A line is verpenclicular to another when the angles 
formed by it are right angles. 

8. An angle is the opening between two lines that meet; 
the vertex is the point where they meet. 

9. If a perpendicular line is drawn from the center of a 
straight line, two right angles will be formed, each containing 
90°. 

10. An aciUe angle is less than a right angle. 

11. An obtuse angle is greater than a right angle. 

12. A surface has only two dimensions, length and 
breadth. 

13. A polygon is a figure having three or more sides. A 
polygon having three sides is called a triangle; one of four 
sides a quadrilateral ; one of five sides a pentagon; one of six 
sides, a hexagon; one of eight sides an octagon, etc. 

14. A circle is a plain figure, bounded by a curved line, 
called the circumference, every part of which is equally dis- 
tant from a point within, called the center. 

15. The diameter of a circle is a straight line passing 
through the center, terminating at the circumference. 

16. The radius of a circle is a straight line drawn from 
the center to the circumference, and is equal to one-half of 
the diameter. 

17. An arc of a circle is any part of its circumference. 

18. A chord is a straight line joining the extremities of 
an arc. 

125 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 




126 



THE LEVER ESCAPEMENT. 

19. An angle is measured by the number of degrees con- 
tained between the two straight lines which form it. 

20. A tangent to a circle is a straight line which touches 
the circle at only one point, and is always at right angles to 
a radius drawn to that point. 

21. When two or more circles have the same center or 
are drawn from the same point, they are called concentric 
circles. 

22. A degree is one of the 360 equal divisions of a circle. 
A half circle contains 180 degrees; a quarter circle 90 degrees, 
etc. The sizes of the degrees vary according to sizes of the 
circles. 

23. A protractor is an instrument divided into degrees 
and half degrees, used for measuring or drawing angles. 

The protractor and the degrees it is divided into must be 
well understood before we attempt to make our drawings. 
Every circle no matter how large or how small has 360 de- 
grees; in other words, a degree is the 1-360 part of a circle. 
The degrees of a large circle will be large and those of small 
circles must be small. Degrees do not denote size but parts. 
A complete circle then has 360°, a half circle 360-^w^l80° 
one-fourth of a circle 360-^4=90°, etc. A protractor represents 
usually a half-circle, divided into 180 equal parts represent- 
ing degrees, and in most cases these are sub-divided, giving 
% degrees; the center of the protractor should always be 
placed at the point from which we intend to lay off the 
degrees; to illustrate (Fig. 2) we have the horizontal line 
a-b. and the line perpendicular to it c-d. we wish to lay off 30° 
to the right and 30° to the left of the line c-d.; from point c. 
we place the protractor with its center at c; place a pencil 
dot at the 30° mark at the right, and the same on the left, 
then by drawing a straight line from c. through each of the 
dots, we have two lines, one 30° at the right of the line c-d, 
and the other 30° to the left or 60° from each other. No 
matter what the size of the circle that should be drawn, if 
these lines were continued our angles would be the same. For 
this reason, we are able to make a large drawing of an escape- 
ment or any part of it, ten, twenty or thirty times the actual 
size, and then reduce it to actual size very accurately. 

127 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 









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128 



THE LEVER ESCAPEMENT. 

All club-tooth escape wheels in use at the present time have 
fifteen teeth; the space between two teeth must contain as 
many degrees as 360-^15=24°; this we should keep in mind. 
If it were possible to make an escapement absolutely perfect, 
having no recoil, we could make the width of the pallet stone 
and tooth one-half of the space between two teeth 24°-^2°:=l^", 
but as we must allow side shake of the pivots in the jewels, 
and we must have draw to the pallet stones in order to keep 
the guard pin from rubbing on the roller, and when we have 
draw, we must have recoil to the wheel in unlocking, we find 
it impossible to make our pallet stone and tooth more than 
eleven degrees wide where all parts are nicely constructed, 
and 10%° is what is used in most cases. This will be the 
amount in these drawings. The difference between 12° and the 
10%° (the width of tooth and pallet stone) is 1%°, which is 
the amount of drop to the escape wheel. 

The pallets are free to move with the pallet arbor, and 
from the time of lock to the drop, the pallets should move 
just 10°; of this 1%° represents the locking, 4° the impulse on 
the pallets and 4%° the impulse on the tooth of the escape 
wheel of the 10i/o° we have for the width of the pallet stone 
and escape wheel tooth, 5° represents the pallet stone and 5%° 
the tooth. It will make it much easier to remember, if we 
keep in mind that whole numbers (5°-4°) will always be 
on the pallets, and the fractional numbers 5%° and 4%° are 
always on the teeth of the wheel; by keeping them thus as- 
sociated, we will have but little trouble in remembering. 

We may now proceed to make our drawing of the escape 
wheel and pallets (the fork and roller action will be taken 
up later). Our paper is placed on the board as smoothly as 
possible, and fastened with the thumbtacks; place the T 
square against the left edge of the board and draw the base 
line A. B., from left to right near the bottom edge of the paper. 
Next bisect this line and draw a perpendicular line to it C. D. 
If the drawing board is perfectly square, this may be done with 
the T square from lower side of the board, but as most boards 
are not very accurate, the better way will be to use a right 
angle triangle, resting it on the T square, which is still in 
the same position as when the line A. B. was drawn. . This 
perpendicular line passes through the center of the pallet 

129 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

arbor and starts from the center of the escape wheel (only 
half of which will he drawn) ; the primitive diameter of 
which is denoted by the semi-circle W. W. W. The diameter 
of this circle will be determined by the size of our paper, the 
opening of the pallets (the distance from the locking face of 
one pallet stone to the locking face of the other one is 60°) 
may be found by laying off 30° to the left, and 30° to the 
right as in figure 2, giving us lines C. B. and C. F. 

Our next step will be to locate the pallet arbor. This is 
done by drawing tangents to the circle W. at the points where 
the 30° lines cross it, ofin other words, it will be a right 
angle to the lines C. E. or C. F. at the point where they cross 
the circle W. ; where these two lines cross the line C. D. will 
locate the pallet arbor P. We draw the lines P. G. and P. H. 
We can now draw our pallets locking on the R. stone, at 
rest, or locking on the L. stone. First, we will draw them 
locking on the R. stone, the circle drawn, W. passes through 
the locking corners of ail of the teeth, the impulse faces of 
the teeth then must be outside of this circle, and the locking, 
and the impulse of the pallet must be inside of this circle, 
the impulse face of the tooth will have 4i/^° lift. The lock 
will be iy2° and the impulse of the pallet stone will be 4° 
(4%°+li^°+4°=10°, total movement of pallets); place the 
center of the protractor at P. (center of pallets) and mark 4i/^° 
above line P. G., 1%° below same line and 4° below the 1%° 
or 5%° (4°+l%°) below the line P. G. Draw straight lines 
from point P. through these points giving us lines P.-l, P-2, 
P-3. For the width of our pallet stones and escape wheel 
teeth, we lay off from the center of the wheel to the right of 
the line C. E. 5° for pallets and to the left of same line 5%° 
for width of tooth, giving lines C. 4, C. 5. We also draw a 
line 5° at the right of line C. F. for the width of the L. stone 
C. 6. From center of pallets P. draw an arc of a circle a-'a 
passing through the points where the 30° lines cross the cir- 
cle W; this arc of a circle shows the path of the locking cor- 
ner of each pallet stone, they are always on this circle at some 
point, -we also draw arcs through the points where the 5° 
lines cross the circle W, from center of the pallets. The arc 
on the left b-b represents the path of the let off point of the 
R. stone and the arc on the right c-c shows the path of the 

130 



THE LEVER ESCAPEMENT. 

let off point of the L. stone. These are important points, as 
will be seen when we draw in the impulse faces of our pallet 
stones. 

To get the full diameter of our wheel, draw a circle from 
center of the wheel through the point where the 4%° line 
crosses the circle that shows the path of the let off point 
of the R. stone. This circle will be concentric with W. The 
back part of the tooth will be on this circle. 

When a tooth is locking on the R. stone, the let off point 
of the L. stone must be at the circumference of the wheel, 
the let off point of this stone is always on the arc of the circle 
(c-c), then it must now be at the point where these two cir- 
cles cross each other, and through that point we draw the line 
marked A, and above this line lay off 4° for our impulse to the 
L. stone. 

We can now draw in the impulse face of the tooth and the 
impulse faces of our pallet stones. First, we will draw in that 
of the tooth. We. have 5%° for the width and 4%° for the 
height of the impulse face of the tooth, as shown by the lines 
drawn. The back of the teeth are on the outer circle, and the 
front or locking corner are on the inner circle, so if we draw 
a straight line from the point where the line C-5 crosses the 
outer circle, to the point where the line C. E. crosses the 
inner circle, we will have the impulse face of our tooth. In 
drawing that of the pallet stones, we know the locking cor- 
ner is always on the circle a. a., and the let off point of the 
R. stone is on the circle b. b. The locking corner is also on 
the line P. 2, and the let off point on the line P. 3, so the im- 
pulse face of this stone would be drawn from the point where 
the line P. 2 crosses the circle a. a. to the point where the line 
P. 3 crosses the circle b. b. The L. stone is similar, the lock- 
ing corner being at the point where the line p. 7, crosses the 
circle a-a., and the let off point where the circle c-c. crosses the 
line P. A., connecting these two points with a straight line 
we have the impulse face of the L. stone. We should now 
observe that neither the locking nor let off points are on the 
straight lines 5° apart that were laid off for their width. 
This is very plainly seen at the let off point of the R. stone, 
as it is on the circle b. b. and the 5° line O. 4 is some distance 
from it. This is caused by the circular movement of the pal- 

131 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGt. 

lets. If you follow the arc of the circle, it will be readily 
seen that when the pallet has been raised until the let off point 
is at the circle w. w. or primative diameter of the wheel, then 
the circle and the straight line both pass through the same 
point; the farther we move our pallets the greater the dis- 
tance will be. 

It is necessary that the front of the tooth be cut away 
in order that the tooth may come in contact with the pallet 
stone only at one point. In order to give the required clear- 
ance, we lay off 24° at the left of the line C. E., placing the 
center of the protractor at the locking corner of the tooth, 
giving usi line d-d. We now draw a circle (e-e) to which 
this line is tangent. The front faces of all of the teeth will 
be tangents to this circle. We may now proceed to locate the 
other teeth. If we had a complete circle we could step it off 
with the dividers into fifteen equal parts, but as we only have 
half of the circle, this can not be done. We could lay off 24° 
from the locking corner of our tooth, and get it fairly correct, 
but we have a more accurate method than that, we know the 
line C. D. forms a right angle with the base line A. B. The 
line C. E. which passes through the corner of the tooth is 30° 
from the perpendicular line; in all we have the sum of 90° 
and 30° or 120°. This divided by 24° (the number between 
two teeth) 120-:-24=:5, there must be exactly five spaces from 
the tooth we now have to the base line on the right. We 
can set our dividers so they will exactly step it off in five 
spaces, each of these points will be the locking corner of a 
tooth. The other teeth may now be located by the dividers. 
The impulse faces of the other teeth may be drawn the same 
as the one that is finished, the back portion of the teeth may 
be made of any desired form, but must be cut out enough to 
allow for the recoil in unlocking. The rest of the wheel has 
no definite size and much depends upon the makers individual 
taste, but it is important that the front face and the impulse 
face should be made as nearly correct as it is possible to make 
them. 

The drawing of the locking faces of the pallet stones 
have been purposely left until the last. It might be well to 
look over Fig. 5 of the last article before we proceed with 
the drawings, as a point here differs with nearly all drawings. 

132 



THE LEVER ESCAPEMENT. 

By this method we can draw our pallets in any position, either 
locking on the R. or L. stone, or at any intermediate point, 
and our draft will always be the same, which cannot be said 
of all methods. 

We now draw a line perpendicular or right angle to the 
IVz" line (P.2) from the locking corner of the R. stone f; at 
the right of this line we lay off either 12° or 15° for the 
draw. We will use 12° on each stone. This line gives us the 
locking face of the R. stone. We also see that it is inside of 
the circle a. a., which represents the path of the locking cor- 
ners of the pallet stones. 

For the L. stone we proceed in a similar manner; in all 
cases we draw first a perpendicular line from the line pass- 
ing from the center of the pallet arbor through the locking 
corner of the stone, the perpendicular line always starting 
from the locking corner of the stone. Then at the right of 
this line lay off 12° for draw. When these lines are drawn 
for the L. stone, we notice the locking face is outside of the 
circle a. a. 

We have now the locking and impulse faces of both pallet 
stones drawn. The other faces may be drawn parallel to the 
locking faces, and the pallet steel drawn in. This, as in many 
other cases, is a matter where one may please himself, the 
acting faces only requiring perfect form. 

When the wheel and pallets have been drawn in with the 
pencil, those who desire may ink them in, using the bow-pen 
in the compasses for the circles, and the hand bow-pen for the 
straight lines, being careful to have the pen lean away from 
the ruler, otherwise it is liable to blot the paper. 

After the wheel and pallets are drawn, we are ready to 
take up the fork and roller action. The length of the fork 
may vary with reference to the diameter of the escape wheel, 
being from .5 to .7 of its diameter, and in some cases even 
greater, in fact some Swiss watches which are made with a 
very showy escapement, have been found where the length 
of the lever was one and one-half times the diameter of the 
escape wheel; the proportion of the fork and roller would still 
be the same, the roller being larger in diameter when the 
lever was longer, so in making our drawing, we may use for 

133 




2.< 





THE LEVER ESCAPEMENT. 

the length of the lever either .6 or .7 of the diameter of the 
escape wheel. 

The size of the roller and the length of the lever vary, a 
large roller and a short lever giving the balance impulse 
during a less number of degrees than a long lever and a 
small roller. The radius of the roller is made from 1-3 to 
1-5 the length of the lever. In speaking of the length of the 
lever, we mean the distance from the center of the pallet arbor 
to the mouth of the notch the jewel pin enters. The horns 
of the lever projecting beyond this point, is a part of the 
safety action. 

The lever and pallets in many cases are made of one 
piece;" if not, they are securely fastened to each other, so 
they must move together. We found in making our drawing 
of the escape wheel and pallets, that the pallets had an angular 
movement of 10°; our lever must have the same angular 
motion, as both move together. In making our drawing, we 
will lay off 5° at the right and 5° at the left of the line a b 
(Fig. 4). These two lines will represent the position of the 
center of the lever when it has moved the pallets far enough 
to allow a tooth to pass off of the R stone and also from the 
L stone, a total movement of 10°, of which 1%° is the lock and 
8%° the impulse or lift as shown in the last drawing. 

We next draw the arc c d which gives the length of 
the lever being .5, .6 or .7 of the diameter of the escape wheel; 
the width of the notch for the jewel pin is found by laying 
off 21^° at the right and 2%° at the left of the line a b, 
making the notch 5° wide. The sides of the notch are drawn 
parallfel to the line a b. The depth is determined by the dis- 
tance the jewel pin enters, it only being necessary that it 
'should not touch the bottom of the notch. 

To determine the size of the roller, we divide the length 
of our lever into 3, 4 or 5 parts (in this case 4 parts are 
taken) one of these parts gives us the radius of the roller, or 
the distance from the center of the jewel pin to the center of 
the roller. To locate the center of the roller, set the dividers 
one-fourth the length of the lever or one of the four equal 
spaces, then place one of the points where the 5° line crosses 
tlie circle c d and draw an arc of a circle crossing the cen- 
ter line a b. Where this arc crosses the line a b, the center 

135 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

of our roller will be located, shown at e, in the drawing. Now 
place the dividers at this point, and draw a complete circle, 
which gives us the path of the center of the jewel pin and also 
cuts the arc c d at the points where the 5° lines cross it. 
The point where this circle crosses the line a b is the center 
of our jewel pin. The size of this should be as large as it 
can be and act freely in the notch of the lever. If the jewel 
pin is small, much power will be lost, so we may draw in a 
circle that nearly fills the notch. Some allow % of a degree 
for shake; this, I think is rather excessive, a less amount 
giving better satisfaction. Jewel pins are made of various 
forms, the most common being the round ones with 1-3 of 
the front face flattened or ground off. One of this form 
enters the notch in the lever better and is more satisfactory 
than either the round or the oval ones, so common in English 
and Swiss watches. In some of the better grades of watches, 
the triangular ones are used and give very good satisfaction, 
although they are not as strong as the round ones with 1-3 
of the front face ground away. The guard pin should be 
placed as near the bottom of the notch in the fork as possible, 
and allow strength of metal to hold it. When this has been 
drawn in, we may determine the full diameter of the roller, 
the farther from the notch the guard pin is located, the 
larger the diameter of the roller. It would be rather diffi- 
cult to tell just how large to make the roller when the levei- 
is at rest or in the center, but when it is at either side, then 
the edge of the roller would just touch the guard pin, so we 
may draw a circle showing the guard pin in the position it 
would occupy on either 5° line (as shown in the drawing at 
the left) and then draw a circle just touching it, which will 
give the full diameter of the roller. The crescent may now 
be drawn in and should be deep enough to allow the guard pin 
to pass through with a little clearance at the bottom, the 
width of the crescent may be taken from the points where 
the 2%° lines cross the circumference of the roller. 

The inner parts of the horns of the fork should be drawn 
so they will be parallel to the circle representing the path of 
the center of the jewel pin when the lever is in the position 
shown in the drawing at the left, the curve of the horn which 
the jewel pin would pass in leaving the fork, would be drawn 

136 



THE LEVER ESCAPEMENT. 




137 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

from the center of the roller. The other horn would be 
drawn from the same point when the lever was resting 
against the banking pin on the right. When the lever is at 
rest, its center being on the line a b, then in drawing the 
horn on the right side, we would place our dividers not at 
the point e, but 5° at the left of it, shown by the mark x, 
and the left horn would be drawn from a similar point shown 
on the 5° line at the right. The other parts of the lever may 
be made to suit one's fancy, some are very plain and others 
quite elaborate. 

The drawing shows the banking pins in the position they 
are in when a watch is banked to the drop, in other words 
they allow the lever to move just far enough to let the teeth 
of the escape wheel to pass off from the impulse faces of the 
pallet stones, the side of the pins would be located one-half 
of the width of the lever from the 5 "'I line as the center of 
the lever would be on that line after moving 5° from the 
center. 

The lifting angle of the roller in this case is 40°, if the 
radius of the roller was one-third the length of the lever it 
would be 30°^, etc. 

In many of our modern watches of the better grades we 
find escapements with a double roller-, the escape wheel and 
pallets are the same as in other escapements, the difference 
being in the saftey action. In the fork and roller we have 
just drawn the guard pin comes in contact with the outer 
circumference of the roller, the farther this circumference is 
from the center the greater the amount of friction, in the 
double roller the guard-point projects beyond the end of the 
lever and is also below it; by this arrangement we can have 
a much smaller roller for the safety action, it being only one- 
half or three-fifths of the diameter of the circle representing 
the path of the center of jewel pin; on account of 
this very small diameter the friction of the guard- 
point is greatly reduced and the crescent being much 
deeper, we are able to get a much better safety 
action. The drawing at the right shows the double roller. 
It differs from the others, only in the addition of the small 
roller and the guard point. The size and shape of the large 
roller is of no importance, as its only purpose is to carry 
the jewel pin. They are made of many forms, some makers 

138 



THE LEVER ESCAPEMENT. 

even setting the jewel pin in the arm of the balance the 
proper distance from the center. In our drawing, the small 
roller is three-fifths of the diameter of the circle showing 
the path of the jewel pin, the guard point would just touch 
the small roller when the lever was either 5° at the right or 
left; an arc of a circle drawn through these pints f f crossing 
the line a b locates the end when the lever is at rest. The 
crescent must be deep enough to allow the guard point to 
pass through with some clearance. The center of the jewel 
pin and the center of the crescent should always be on a 
straight line from the center of the roller. 

In Pig. V is shown five forms of jewel pins that have 
been used; a was used in English watches, but on account 
of its being round, it would not enter the notch with the 
same accuracy as those in use at the present time. The 
Swiss people used those of the oval form shown at b, this was 
a step in the right direction, it being more flat, entered the 
fork better and had a safer action than the round one. At 
c is shown the one now in general use, it being a round one 
with one-third of its diameter removed from the front. This 
is the kind used in nearly all American watches and also in 
our drawings, the front face being flat, the jewel pin enters 
the notch deeper than the other forms, and consequently 
has a much better action. The triangular one d, is found in 
some very fine Swiss and a few American watches; its action 
is similar to the last mentioned, being perhaps a trifle super- 
ior, the form shown at e is not in general use today, some 
of the American watches used them for a time, but for 
various reasons they did not give general satisfaction, and 
soon went out of use. 

Fig, VI shows four different forms of forks, and also 
their safety action. 1, is an ordinary Swiss lever with a 
dart formed by filing the front of the lever as shown, this 
dart acts in the same manner as an ordiliary guard pin com- 
ing in contact with the edge of the roller. 2, is the common 
lever with the brass guard pin inserted. 3, the guard point 
used in a double roller, projecting bej^ond the notch, it is a 
piece fastened on the under side of the lever by a screw as 
shown. 4, is a lever without any guard pin, and is found in 
English watches that have a crank roller. In this case, the 

139 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

curved portion of the fork comes in contact with the outside 
of the roller, the jewel pin projecting beyond the circumfer- 
ence of this part of the roller. 

We have learned the principles on which the escape- 
ments are made, and now we should be in a condition to begin 
a systematic study of the escapement, and learn its defects and 
how to correct them. When these drawings are understood, 
it will be surprising how much easier escapement problems 
will appear, as most people are working in the dark when 
they do not know why a thing is done. By the aid of many 
photographs showing the action of escapements step by step, 
also showing defects in construction or those caused by acci- 
dent, it is hoped that my readers may be able to overcome 
any difficulties now existing, and future work may be a 
greater pleasure. 

We have studied the theoretical principles of the lever 
escapement pretty thoroughly in making the drawings, and 
should now be in a condition to do some good practical work. 
It is impossible to do good work unless the theory is under- 
stood, yet theory is of little value without practical applica- 
tion; we cannot tell just how many degrees action the various 
parts of the escapement may have in practice, yet if we have 
formed a good image of the drawings in our mind, it will 
help us to quickly judge if the parts are in their proper re- 
lations to one another. 

It will be best to consider the pallets and the escape 
wheel first, leaving the fork and roller action until later. 
Some people in setting the escapement, get the fork and 
roller action right first and then set the pallet stones to fit; 
this, I think a very bad practice, as the roller may be too 
large or too small, and the guard pin as used in the Ameri- 
can watches is very liable to be bent. Any of these de- 
fects would make it difficult to get the pallet stones properly 
set. 

When the escapement was drawn, we began with the es- 
cape wheel and pallets. We allowed li^° for lock, 4° for the 
impulse on the pallet stone and 4^^° for the impulse of the 
tooth, making a total amount of 10°. If the roller should be 
too large, then the lever would have more than 10° move- 
ment, and the result would be the pallets would have the 

140 



THE LEVER ESCAPEMENT. 

same angular movement, and as we can not change either the 
impulse face of the tooth or that of the pallet (they being 
previously made), the extra amount of motion would increase 
the amount of lock, a very bad defect, as the extra force used 
in unlocking would be taken from the impulse. 

The locking in all cases should be as little as we can 
give it, and have it safe and sure. We allow 1%° but if we 
can make our work accurate enough that only 1° is neces- 




Fig. 7. 

sary, so much the better, but we must allow some for the 
side shake of the pivots in the jewels and we often notice a 
slight irregularity in the teeth of the escape wheel. The 
wheels when made are supposed to be true. Many a wheel 
that is true in the round, has been poorly fitted to the pinion, 
often decentered; we can not cement up an escape wheel and 
true from the teeth like we would a train wheel, the teeth 
being so delicate they would be liable to damage, so we must 
resort to a different method as follows: (Illustrated in Fig. 7.) 
Take a cement brass larger than the escape wheel and cut a 

141 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

step or recess nearly as deep as the thickness of the wheel 
and the diameter just large enough that the wheel may enter 
and have no side shake, the wheel may now be cemented in 
with a small amount of lathe wax or shellac, heating the 
cement brass hot enough to melt the cement when touched 
to it, before placing the wheel in position. It will be readily 
seen that the step being turned in the lathe, must be true, 
and the teeth of the wheel fitting this step closely, the outside 
edge of the teeth must be true, and now if we cut out the 
center with a small jewel graver, the hole must be true with 
the outside of the wheel, by bushing the wheel if too large, 
and cutting the hole in the bushing true, our wheel will be 
as perfect as it is possible to make it. After the bushing has 
been placed in the wheel, we can replace it in the cement 
chuck and cut the hole the proper size to fit the escape pinion 
with a very small jewel graver. Do not attempt to drill or 
broach an escape wheel and have it true. It should always 
be cut out with a small graver. I have often made small 
cutters out of needles for such work, grinding them the same 
shape as the jewel gravers shown in the previous article on 
jeweling. 

A wheel out of true or decentered causes so many de- 
fects in the escapement, that I urge the correction of such 
defects before any attempt is made to set the pallet stones. 
A wheel out of center would have heavy locking on one side 
and light on the other, or it might be correct on one side and 
have none om the opposite side. In any case. It would not 
be possible to get equal locking with all of the teeth. Another 
effect from the same cause would be a slight difference in the 
drop caused by the unequal lock of the different teeth. 

One of the first things we should learn is how to select 
a pair of pallets to fit an escape wheel, or an escape wheel 
to fit a pair of pallets. This is not nearly so difficult as 
many imagine, and here our knowledge gained by making 
the drawings, will be very valuable. We notice the tooth 
of the escape wheel is locking on the "R" stone, the fourth 
tooth (counting the one locking, as the first), the let off 
point is a very small distance from the let off point of the 
pallet; this amount is the drop, and is shown in the photo- 
graph (Fig. 8.) When a tooth is locking on the "L" stone, 

142 



THE LEVER ESCAPEMENT. 

then the space between the let off point of the "R" stone 
and the back of the tooth that has just escaped from it should 
be exactly the same as the space between the "L" stone and 
the tooth that has escaped from it. These are the important 




Fig. 8. 



points to observe in selecting either a wheel or the pallets. 
It will be noticed that in the first case the pallets fit beticeen 
four teeth with a small amount of shake; in the second case, 
they fit over three teeth with the same amount of shake. 
When these conditions prevail, we may be quite sure the 

143 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 




wheel and pallets will fit each other. They may now be tried 
in the depthing tool, having set it the correct distance be- 
tween the jewels of the escape pinion and the pallet arbor. 

When the pallets are too large for the wheel or the wheel 
is too small for the pallets, then the shake between four teeth 
will be very small, or perhaps the pallets are so large for the 
wheel that they will not enter the space between four teeth, 
and when the palets are placed over three teeth, the shake 
will be excessive. It will be readily seen that we can tell al- 
most at a glance by placing the wheel and pallets in position 
shown, whether one will fit the other or not. We may find 
many cases where the shake is unequal, and often do where 
the pallets may properly fit the wheel, the error being caused 
by the pallet stones being incorrectly set, for instance, if the 
stones are too close together the effect would be the same as 
pallets that were too small. The defects would be corrected 
by moving the stones farther apart, or by moving either one- 
half as much as we desire to increase the space. Our reason 
for moving only one-half of the amount is shown in Fig. 9. 
Suppose I move the "L" stone 1-lOth of a millimeter to the 
right, as shown by the dotted lines; by doing so, we have in- 
creased the space over three teeth that amount; we have 
also decreased the space between four teeth the same amount, 
so if our inside space has been increased 1-lOth of a milli- 
meter and our outside space has been decreased 1-lOth of a 
millimeter, we have a total difference of 2-lOth of a milli- 
meter. This accounts for what appears to be a large dif- 
ference in action for only a very small difference in the 
movement of the pallet stones. 

We often find pallet stones set in the pallets with the 
impulse face of one or both stones in the wrong direction. 

144 



THE LEVER ESCAPEMElNT. 




MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

There is no excuse for anything of this liind if one giveis 
any thought to the construction of the escapement. The im- 
pulse face of the tooth and pallet should he nearly parallel 
where they come together, as shown in Fig. 10, and never 
as shown in Fig. 11, which shows each stone reversed'. 
Here our impulse would be nearly all lost, only a portion of 
that on the tooth having effect. It is as necessary some- 
times to show a defect in order to impress the correct form 
upon one's mind, as to show the correct form itself. 

For a practical illustration, let us suppose we have a 
watch that needs new pallet stones, the old ones being either 
lost or broken. We order a pair for the movement, stating 
the size, grade and make. When they arrive, we will notice 
one of them has less angle than the other, the one with the 
least angle is the "R" stone and the one with the greater 
angle is the "L" stone. By examining any of the drawings 
or the photographs, one can see at a glance which way tlfe 
stones should be set. The shortest side of the stone is the 
locking face; a tooth of the wheel should always drop upon 
this face after a tooth has passed from the impulse face of 
the other stone. 

We can hardly expect to get the pallet stones set exactly 
correct the first attempt, we can only get them in their 
proper place, so that when we place them in their position 
in the watch, we can quickly tell how to move them to cor- 
rect any faults. There are two things we must keep in mind; 
first, we want a certain amount of locking on each stone, 
and second, we must have our watch in line; by that we mean 
the lever should pass an equal distance on either side of 
the line of centers between the pallet arbor and the balance 
staff. We test for the lock first by banking the watch to the 
drop. When a watch is banked to the drop, the lever and 
pallets can move just far enough to allow all of the teeth to 
escape and no more. The quickest way to bank a watch to 
the drop, is to turn one banking-pin in toward the center, 
and the other away from the center. The one near the cen- 
ter will not allow the lever to move far enough to let the 
teeth of the wheel escape, while the other one will have no 
effect on it at all, as it is too far away. The balance wheel 
should not be in place while banking the escapement. While 

146 



THE LEVER ESCAPEMENT. 

there is some power on the train, move the lever until It 
rests against the banking-pin near the center. It will not 
allow the tooth to escape; now with a small screw-driver 
move the banking pin very slowly away from the center, 
watching the wheel carefully until we see it drop. Then 
move the lever back and forth until the wheel makes a com- 
plete revolution, as some of the teeth, which is often the case, 
are slightly longer than the others. When they all escape, 
we will turn the other banking-pin toward the center, and 
move the lever against it, open this pin until the wheel 
escapes the same as before; when all of the teeth escape, our 



y: 



i^^ 



Fig. 12. 

watch is banked to the drop. Now, we can examine the 
amount of lock on the pallet stones, it should be about one- 
sixth of the width of the stone, or as little as possible, and 
be safe. In some cases the stones will be so far back, that 
there will be no lock at all, the teeth dropping upon the im- 
pulse faces. The remedy would be to set one or both of the 
stones farther out. If the locking is greater than the amount 
required, we can correct it by setting one or both of the 
stones farther back, banking the watch to the drop of course, 
every time the pallet stones are changed, it will be noticed 
that in changing the amount of lock, it may be done by mov- 
ing one stone or by moving both of them. We must know 
when to move one, and also when it is necessary to move 
both of them. As soon as we get our watch banked to the 

147 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

drop and examine the locking, we should place the balance 
wheel with staff and roller (taking off the hair spring), in 
position, and examine the shake between the guard pin in 
the lever and the edge of the roller. We learned in making 
the drawing, that there should be no shake between them 
when banked to the drop. If the locking on the pallet stones 
is the right amount, and there is no shake between the guard 
pin and the roller, our escapement is correct, or if there is 
shake between the guard pin and roller, and it is equal, our 
pallet stones are set correctly, but the roller is either too 
small or the guard pin is too far back. The safety 9,ction 
may be corrected by bending the guard pin forward, giving 
it a double bend (Fig. 12), so that the part coming in con- 
tact with the edge of the roller is always perpendicular to 
the lever. When this is not done, the difference in the end 
shakes will often cause the safety action to be faulty. If the 
guard pin should be tight on both sides, we would correct it 
by bending the pin back in the same manner as just ex- 
plained, as shown in same illustration below. 

We do not often set the pallet stones, and get the proper 
lock the first time. To do this, and also have it in line, is 
almost impossible. Suppose now after setting the stones 
and banking to the drop, we find the locking too heavy and 
on trying the shake on the roller, find one side just free, and 
the other having considerable shake. We know that by set- 
ting back either stone will reduce the locking on both pallets 
as much as that one is set back. We also know, the lever 
will be moved a less distance, so by setting back the proper 
stone, we can correct the locking and bring the watch in line 
by one move. 

Again we will suppose after setting the stones and bank- 
ing, that the locking is very light and the shake appears 
to be correct on one side, but the lever will not move far 
enough to allow the jewel pin to pass out of the fork on the 
other side. We know that by setting out the pallet stones, 
it will give the fork a greater angular movement. We know 
that by setting out one of the pallet stones, both will have 
more lock; by setting out the right stone, we can correct our 
locking, also correct the fork and roller action, as we must 
open our banking to allow the wheel to escape, the lever will 

148 



THE LEVER ESCAPEMENT. 

move farther, and this will let the jewel pin pass out of 
the fork, correcting our trouble, and putting the watch 
in line. 

What was said about selecting a pair of pallets to fit 
an escape wheel applies equally well to the drop. A tooth 




Fig- 13- 

when leaving the "R" stone should drop the same distance 
one does that leaves the "L" stone, otherwise we have un- 
equal drop, and the watch would sound as though it were 
out of beat. If the pallet stones are too far apart, the inside 
drop will be excessive, and if they are too close together, the 
outside drop will be the greatest. They should be equal; the 
remedy is plain. 

149 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

There are two ways of putting a watch in line; one has 
been shown, that of moving the stones; another, which is pos- 
sible in many watches, is accomplished by moving the lever 
on the pallets after setting the stones correctly. Some levers 
are held in place by screws, others have steady pins and some 
are made of the same piece as the pallets. These cannot be 
moved, and in some cases are bent in order to bring the 
watch in line. 

In any case where the watch is banked to the drop, and 
the lever does not allow the jewel pin to pass out on one or 
both sides, never try to correct the difficulty by opening the 
banking pins, as this will not correct the trouble. A watch 
to give good satisfaction, must allow the jewel pin to enter 
the fork and pass out freely when banked to the drop, and any 
escapement that will not do this, should be made to do so. 
Sometimes it is the fault of the jewel pin, it being set out too 
far. It may be and often is the end of the fork, that is too 
long, the jewel pin striking the corner as it enters (Fig. 13). 
There should be a small amount of space between the outside 
face of the jewel pin and the horns of the fork, as may bie 
seen in the drawing of the fork and roller in the last article. 
Many of the new watches as they leave the factory, will not 
allow the jewel pin to leave the fork or enter it when banked 
to drop. This trouble may be corrected by grinding out the 
fork with a round iron wire and oilstone powder, afterwards 
polishing in the same manner with diamantine and oil or 
another wire of brass as shown in Fig. 14. 

The jewel pin should fit the notch in the fork as closely 
as possible and be free. This is very important, as much 
power may be lost at this point, and the setting of a jewel 
pin is a much more important item than many think. Let 
us see the duties it must perform, first it enters the notch 
in the fork, moving the lever until the pallet stone unlocks, 
then the force of the train acting upon the escape wheel gives 
the pallets their impulse by the combined action of the im- 
pulse faces of the tooth and pallet stone, (passing over each 
other). The jewel pin is no longer acting against the lever, 
but the lever is now giving impulse to the balance through 
the jewel pin. If the pin is too small to fit the notch nicely, 
then the lever will move some distance without giving im- 

150 



THE LEVER ESCAPEMENT. 

pulse; many watches fail to have good motion on account of 
this defect. Many workmen select a jewel pin to fit the hole 
in the roller instead of fitting it to the fork, which should be 
done. In case the jewel pin is too large to enter the hole in 
roller, the hole may be enlarged by using a piece of binding 




Fig. 14. 

wire in the saw frame, and grinding it out with oilstone 
powder and oil. It is important that the jewel pin should 
be set square and perpendicular to the roller table; if it fits 
the fork as it should, the lever will give the balance im- 
pulse immediately after the tooth of the escape wheel un- 
locks from the pallet stone. 

We have learned to draw the lever escapement properly, 
select our escape wheel or a pair of pallets, and should 
have a very good idea of the principles involved. There are, 
however, many little hints that will help in repairing that 
may be added at this time. Often in banking a watch, we 
find the banking pins are too loose and have not friction 
enough to keep them from turning in the plate. When in 
that condition our fork and roller action would be affected, 

151 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

as the pallets would have too much run caused by the bank- 
ing pins moving outward by the constant striking by the 
side of the lever. We often find cases where the threads 
have been flattened with a hammer to tighten them, this 
should not be done as the threads are very fine, and when 
forced into the plate, would destroy the threads in it. We 
can correct a fault of this kind very easily and without damage 
of any kind in the following manner: Make a wedge-shaped 
punch as shown in Fig. 15, remove the banking pin from 
the plate and place the pin in a hole of our bench block, al- 
lowing the head to rest on the block as shown, then with the 




Fig. 15- 



punch in the slot of the screw, strike it lightly with a ham- 
mer and the head will be spread just enough to increase 
the diameter of the screw, but has not disfigured the threads 
in any way. We often find banking screws that are so tight 
it is almost impossible to move them. Such should be taken 
out of the plate and a little bees' wax put on the threads, 
which will prevent the two pieces of metal sticking together. 
Great care should always be used to prevent the pins being 
bent, as a bent banking pin often prevent a watch from run- 
ning in different positons. I have known several cases 
where this alone would cause the watch to stop occasionally. 
In many of the modern watches we find a fork made 
of bronze or a composition metal that is quite soft; in 

152 



THE LEVER ESCAPEMENT. 



these, where the jewel pin constantly strikes in the notch, 
it is rapidly worn so that in a short time it greatly affects 
the motion of the watch. We also notice the same thing in 
some steel ones. When this occurs, the notch should be 
ground out and repolished, and a larger jewel pin placed in 
the roller or the lever notch may be closed and ground out to 
fit the jewel pin. 

The teeth of the escape wheel constantly dropping upon 
the locking faces of the pallet stones, often wear a little notch 
in the stone. This makes the unlocking more difficult, and 
consequently lessens the motion of the balance; a defect of 
this kind can be easily remedied if we possess a diamond 




Fig. i6. 

lap and understand its use. As these laps are quite expensive 
and many workmen would not feel that they could afford such 
a luxury, a method will be shown that any one may be able 
to make one at very small cost. The best laps are made 
either of soft steel or copper, the latter being mostly uBed. 
Fig. 16 shows a side and front view of such a lap, the steel 
taper — a — is turned to fit our taper chuck nicely, after 
which the shoulder is turned to fit the copper — b — which 
is soldered to shoulder of the taper and turned perfectly flat 
and round, it being a good idea to bevel the bade as shown. 
It will be much better if one has a slide rest to do the turn- 
ing, but it can be done with a hand graver nearly as well. 
The front face should be ground perfectly flat on a piece of 
ground glass with either fine emery and water or tripoli and 

153 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOaY. 

oil. When this surface is flat and smooth, the lap should be 
charged with No. 4 diamond powder. This can be bought 
for about $2.50 a carat and % of a carat will be enough to 
charge a small lap. I have made some very nice ones out 
of Canadian pennies. They are large enough for ordinary 
work, but any piece of copper about that size will do as well. 

The best method of charging the lap is to mix the dia- 
mond powder with oil and force it into the soft copper or 
steel with a very hard steel roller. The softer metal retains 
the particles of diamond powder. If one has no steel roller, 
some other piece of very hard steel may be used, being care- 
ful not to leave the surface rough; a knife blade may be 
used for this purpose. We should also have another lap of 
similar shape made of box-wood for polishing. This, we do 
not charge, but use with putty powder (oxide of tin) and 
water for polishing. 

After these laps have been in use a short time, no one 
would be without them for many times their cost. In using 
the diamond lap, the surface should always be well oiled or 
moistened with water. In no case should it be used dry; any 
rough or chipped pallet jewel may be ground smooth with 
the diamond lap and afterwards polished with the box-wood 
and putty powder, making them as good as new. Perhaps 
no greater use will be found for this lap, than in grinding 
off the end of jewel-pins. We often see them set projecting 
through the top of the roller, and in many cases they are so 
long they drag on the plate below. The jewel pin should be 
set even with the surface above, and if too long, may be 
ground off until it is just long enough to reach through the 
lever; this can be quickly accomplished with the laps de- 
scribed. 

A fault that exists in many escapements, and is often 
overlooked, is a roller that the edge is poorly polished. It 
may have been well polished when made, but some careless 
workman may have marred it in removing the roller from 
the staff. If this edge is not highly polished and the guard 
pin comes in contact with it while the watch is running, it 
is liable to stop very quickly; often in setting a jewel pin, a 
small particle of shellac may remain oh the polished surface 
of the roller or in the crescent, and this will have a similar 

154 



THE LEVER ESCAPEMENT. 

effect to the rough roller. It is a very good plan to take a 
piece of peg-wood and run it around the roller. If there is any 
roughness, it can be quickly detected; when the guard pin 
and roller act together properly, the moment the guard 
pin comes in contact with the edge of the roller, it will be 
repelled, and the draw given the pallet stones will imme- 
diately bring the lever against the banking pin, leaving the 
balance and roller free to make its vibration. 

We often find a roller badly out of true, usually caused 
by the hole being closed to make it fit a staff that is too 
small. This is a very serious defect, and the watch is 
liable to over-bank. A new roller is the best remedy, but 
we do not always have one of the correct size on hand, and 
often there is not time to order one from the material house. 
If the outside of the one we have is in good condition, we 
can make it answer the purpose as well as a new one with 
but little labor, the method being very much like the one 
used in bushing the escape wheel. Take a cement brass or a 
piece of wire larger than the outside diameter of the roller, 
cut a recess in which the roller will fit without side shake and 
cement it in. Now, cut out the hole in the center until it is 
perfectly true, it will of course be too large for the staff. 
We may now turn up a bushing of nickel or brass, the former 
making the neater job, with a hole that will fit the staff. This 
method of truing from the outside by turning a recess in a 
brass cement chuck is one that will be of use to us very often 
for various kinds of work, it may be quickly done, and no 
other method can be more accurate. 

Our study of the lever escapement would not be complete 
without some knowledge of making the escape wheels and 
the pallets. The former will be taken up later under wheel 
cutting, and the latter will now be explained. We could not 
lay out an escapement the actual size on a plate and get it 
accurate, but we can make a large drawing on paper either 
ten or twenty times the size we wish our finished work. 
When this is done, it may be transferred to the plate from 
which we are to make our pallets. 

We first make the drawing of the escape wheel and pal- 
lets the same as the one before explained, only making the 
parts ten or twenty times the size. The only additions are 

155 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 



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Fig. 17. 



156 



THE LEVER ESCAPEMENT. 

the two parallel lines shown (Fig. 17) a a and b b. First draw 
the line a a through the locking corner of each pallet stone, 
the line b b will be drawn parallel to a a, passing through 
the center of the pallet arbor. The circle c c c also passes 
through the locking corner of both pallets. When this draw- 




Fig. i8. 



ing is made, we will proceed as follows to make a pair of 
pallets of actual size, A (Fig. 18) is a piece of sheet steel a 
trifle thicker than required for the finished pallets. The 
surface should be quite smooth that the lines may be dis- 
tinctly seen. The working edge at the bottom in this case 
should be filed straight and represents the line a a in the 
drawing. We will suppose the drawing has been made twenty 
times actual size. We now draw a line parallel to the bottom 
edge one-twentieth of the distance between the lines a a and 
b b in the drawing, shown at b b in Fig. 18; at some point on 
this line near the center make a mark with a very sharp 
center punch, which will be the center of the pallets and 
pallet arbor. From this point, draw a circle one-twentieth of 
the diameter of c c. In Fig. 17 where this circle crosses the 
line a a, the locking corner of the pallets will be located. 

We are now ready to locate the locking faces of our 
pallets, first take a very thin piece of sheet metal and cut 

157 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

and file it carefully to the shape shown in Fig. 19. This may 
be done by placing the bottom a a on the line a a in the 
drawing, and filing the side a d so it will be the same angle 
as the locking face of the R. stone. The side a e will be made 
in a similar manner corresponding to the locking face of the 
L. stone, this piece being made quite large will determine 




Fig. 19. 

the angles very accurately, and may be used on any size 
pallets, as these angles are the same in either a large or 
small pair of pallets. 

To mark our locking faces, place the side a a so it is 
jus^t even with the bottom of the steel and the corner "R" 
at the point where the circle C crosses the edge of the plate, 
and draw the line d, which will be the locking face of the "R" 
stone. Now, place the corner of this metal piece marked L 
at the point where the same circle crosses the edge on the 
right and draw the line e, which gives the locking face of the 
"L" stone. The length of each stone should now be shown by 
drawing a line at right angles to each locking face as shown, 
when this has been laid out on the surface, the remaining 
work may be quickly accomplished. We select a saw, either 
circular or an ordinary one, which is one-twentieth the width 
of the pallet stones in our drawing; with this saw cut the 
slot for the pallet stone at the right of the lines d and e, 
being careful to keep the edge of the cut on these lines, the 
depth being determined by the lines at right angles. 

The slots for the two pallet stones are the most important 
things in making the pallets, as the form depends very 
greatly upon the makers' individual taste. 

Should any one desire to make the pallet stones also, 
they may be ground to . fit the slots, taking the angles and 
sizes from the large drawing. 

This is as simple and correct a method of making the 
pallets as any that has ever come to my notice. 

158 



^ THE MAIN SPRING ^f| 



The motive power of a watch depends upon the elasticity 
of a long, thing ribbon of steel, called the main spring. Its 
action seems to be less understood than any other part of 
our pocket time-pieces; it breaks without any apparent cause, 
often soon after being placed in the barrel; again, it will last 
for many years and perform its duty as well as when new. 

The spring of an ordinary 18-size movement is about 
twenty-two inches long and one-eighth inch (about 3 mm.) 
wide. The thickness varies with the quality or grade of 
movement, the weakest or thinest being used for the high- 
est grades, as they require less power to run them. A wide, 
thin spring is less liable to break than a narrow, thick one, 
so in constructing a watch, the barrel is made as large in 
diameter as possible, and as thick as the space between the 
plates will allow. In many Swiss watches, the barrel arbor 
has its support all on one end; this permits the barrel to pass 
completely through the other plate, allowing a very wide 
spring to be used, and when well made, gives good satisfac- 
tion, but all parts must fit closely to prevent any side shake 
to the arbor. 

One of the most difficult tasks of a watchmaker is to 
convince a customer that a spring will break without any 
apparent cause, even while the watch is not being carried. 
They, of course, naturally ask us what makes them break; 
then, when we are unable to tell the exact cause and why it 
did break, they are inclined to distrust us. The real cause may 
be known in the future; surely here is a good field for re- 
search and a fortune for the one who will discover the 
cause and invent something that will prevent the breakage. 
When we stop and think of the very small space in the barrel 
that this spring must occupy, and the still smaller space it 
occupies when fully wound up, that it is wound up and runs 
down day after day for years, we will wonder that it can 
stand the strain as long as it does without breaking. 

159 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

Ofter a spring will break soon after being taken out and 
replaced while cleaning, even when it has been in use before 
for years. For this reason some good workmen do not re- 
move the spring from the barrel in cleaning, but if the oil 
is thick and gummy, it should be taken out and thoroughly 
cleaned, as upon the good action of the spring depends much 
of the motion of the watch. 

A spring should have its surface nicely polished, and 
should be well oiled, as in unwinding the coils slide upon each 
other, and should have as little friction as possible. 

No attempt will be made to explain why a spring will 
break, yet there are many little things that are overlooked by 



ARBOR 



5P/ICE 



5PR/NG 



Fig. I. 



most workmen which may be brought to our notice, and might 
prevent breakage in some instances. 

Comparatively few workmen understand how to fit a 
spring properly. Most of them gauge the old one and put in 
one the same as the one that was broken; in many cases this 
will be satisfactory, but suppose the old one is not the proper 
one; should we make an error because some other workman 
has done so? No. Let us understand our work so well that 
we may be able to correct any fault found and not be in error 
because others have been. 

Theoretically, the arbor should occupy one-third of the 
area of the inside of the barrel. The spring should occupy 

160 



THE MAINSPRING. 

6ne-third and the space should be the same. This may be bet- 
ter illustrated by Fig. 1. Here we have a square diagram 
divided into nine equal spaces; the upper three or one-third of 
the area represents the amount of space filled by the arbor. 
The next three represent the amount of space, while the bot- 
tom three gives us the amount of space occupied by the 
spring. This is easily understood when represented by a 
square diagram, but in actual practice where the barrel is 
round we have a different problem. We will not consider 
the size of the arbor in fitting the spring, as that is made 
to fit the watch and its size cannot be well changed. We 




Fig. 2. 



must endeavor to get our spring to fill one-half of the area 
of the space between the arbor and the inside of the rim. 
At the same time, we must have a certain number of coils in 
the spring. 

A spring that is too long will prevent a watch from run- 
ning its full time, as well as one that is too short. In other 
words, if the spring has too many coils and fills up the barrel 

161 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

more than one-third of its area, it is impossible for the arbor 
to make the required number of turns in winding. The arbor 
should make four and a half or five turns in winding up the 
spring. The barrel will, of course, make the same number of 




Fig. 3- 

revolutions as the spring runs down. Suppose the barrel 
has 80 teeth and the center pinion has 12 leaves; then while 
the barrel makes one revolution, the center wheel will make 




Fig. 4. 

80 -^ 12 or 6 2-3 revolutions; the barrel makes five revolutions. 
As the center pinion carries the minute hand and makes one 
revolution every hour, a watch so constructed would run 
33 1-3 hours with five turns of the arbor in winding. In many 

162 



THE MAINSPRING. 

cases the arbor will make more than this number, and con- 
sequently the watch will run a longer time. 

The photograph shown at Fig. 2 gives a very good idea of 
the correct proportions. Here we have ten and a half coils 
in the spring, and the area of the space and that of the spring 
are the same, as the outside coil of the spring, when fully 
wound up, occupies the position of the outer edge of the 
space when fully run down. To study a spring, an old barrel 
may be cut out as shown in the photograph; make a mark 
on the outside of the barrel at the inner coil when run down; 
now, wind up the spring, and it the arbor makes the required 
number of turns and the outside coil comes to the mark, the 
spring fits the barrel if it has about ten and a half or eleven 
coils before winding. The spring might fill the right amount 
of space and have too many coils. This would show at once 
it was too weak, and if there should not be coils enough and 
the amount of space filled is correct, then the spring would 
be too strong. 

Fig. 3 shows a photograph of a spring found in a Swiss 
watch that would not run twenty-four hours. There are 




Fig. 5- 

about sixteen coils and the spring filled up too much of the 
space. After breaking off the outer end so that the spring 
had evelen coils, the watch ran easily thirty-three hours. The 
barrel hook in this case was also defective as can be seen 
by the illustration. It is so long that it projects through the 
outer coil far enough that the second coil rests against it. 
The hook should be just long enough to barely pass through 
the spring, and should be undercut, the hole in the end of the 
spring should not be straight through, but slanted so it will 
lock securely on the hook, t't^'^ temper of the spring should 

163 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

be drawn at the outer end for a short distance. The width of 
the spring should be as great as it is possible to use, and 
allow clearance between the bottom and cap, 1-10 of a milli- 
meter being sufficient in nearly all cases. A very quick way 
to test the old spring to see if it was the proper width is to 
break off a very short piece about 10 millimeters long and 
place it against the inside of the barrel. If the cap is not 
countersunk the spring should be as wide as the distance 




Fig. 6. 



from the shoulder the cap rests against to the bottom, allow- 
ing a very small amount for freedom. If the head is counter- 
sunk like Inany Swiss watches, we can use a spring as wide 
as the distance from the shoulder to the bottom, the recess in 
the cap being sufficient for the necessary clearance or free- 
dom. 

In placing the spring in the barrel, some good main spring 
winder should be used, as when put in by hand they are often 
so badly bent that a good portion of the power is expended 
by the pressure against the top and bottom of the barrel, caus- 
ing excessive friction, and consequently poor motion to the 

164 



THE MAINSPRING. 

watch. Such a spring is shown in Fig. 4 as taken out of 
a movement that did not give good time. Could you blame it? 

Another peculiar method of repairing a spring is illus- 
trated in Fig. 5. The spring had been broken and spliced 
as shown, and was in actual use for several years. I am not 
able to tell how good time the watch kept, however. 

Some springs lose their elasticity after being in use a 
short time and become "set;" in other words, the coils fail 




Fig. 7. 



to open out properly when removed from the barrel. When 
one becomes set, it should be replaced by a new one. Fig. 6 
shows a spring where the coils do not open properly, and 
also one where the coils open as they should. 

We should use great care and not allow the fingers to 
touch a spring, as the perspiration will cause it to rust, and 
soon break. All main springs should be well oiled, clock oil 
being better than watch oil for this purpose, it being a trifle 
thicker, the coils constantly sliding upon each other require 
plenty of oil. A spring that is not well oiled is liable to 

165 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

break in many pieces. Fig. 7 shows such a spring. Why they 
break in so many pieces it is not easy to explain. It was my 
experience at one time to have seven springs break in the 
same watch in one-half of a day, and in each case the spring 
was in several pieces, they were all genuine American 




Fig. 8. 

springs, the best we could buy. There seemed to be no reason 
for their breaking. The steel may have been burned in hard- 
ening. Fig. 8 shows a photograph taken with the microscope, 
showing the end of a spring that broke into many pieces. The 




Fig. g. 

grain is quite coarse and looks as though it was "burnt" in 
hardening. This would make it very brittle. 

Fig. 9 shows a similar photograph, showing the end of a 
new spring of the best quality obtainable; the grain here is 
finer and less crystallized than in the other. 

It is not difficult to find springs that properly fit Amer- 
ican watches, as they are made the right length and the cor- 
rect strength for each kind of movement, but we often see a 
spring intended for one make used in another and often caus- 
ing serious trouble. 

The T end of the spring should be carefully fitted, as it 
often projects through the top or bottom far enough to either 
touch the balance wheel or the center wheel. The T should 
be made the same length as the thickness of the barrel before 
the spring is wound in the barrel, as it is very poor practice 
to file it off afterward and disfigure the finished surface 

166 



err v^'^CJ?,'VJSQJ' ''S;3r;.'7 ''4;3C;i^ '^^C;?, '^^^jUj' ">f;.3pCiJ '^-^jaCJ' '%}2^l'l'^^^ 

hM ^^^ ^fe 

COMPENSATING BALANCE ^S 



g|!; AND PENDULUM. ^S 



It is a well known law of physics mat all metals expand 
in heat and contract in cold, but some to a greater extent 
than others. This fact made it very difficult to closely time 
the first watches made, as the high and low temperatures 
greatly affected their rate. This same knowledge of the effect 
of heat and cold on the different metals and its proper ap- 
plication have made it possible to time the modern watches 
so they have no perceptible variation in high or low tem- 
peratures. 

It was generally known that a common clock would run 
fast in the Winter and slow in Summer; the pendulum rod 
was made of steel or iron and the cold of Winter would con- 
tract or shorten it, causing the pendulum to vibrate more 
rapidly; the heat of Summer would expand or lengthen the 
rod, when it would vibrate slower. It was impossible to get 
an even rate. 

Many ingenious methods have been invented to overcome 
this difficulty. In nearly every case the unequal expansion 
and contraction of the different metals used is the principle 
involved. 

One of the first attempts at correcting the temperature 
error was the use of the compensating regulator. This was 
made of brass and steel brazed together, one end being fast- 
ened to the regulator, the other end being free to move by 
the action of the heat or cold and also carried one of the reg- 
ulator pins, one pin being solid and the other movable. 
When the pins were far apart the watch would run slower 
and when close together it would run faster. The action 
was automatic. When the watch had a tendency to gain on 
account of the temperature the regulator pins would sep- 
arate, and when running slow the pins would be brought 
close together. In this way a closer rate than formerly was 
obtained. A balance clock with such a regulator is shown in 
Figure 1. The balance was a solid three arm one. 

167 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOaY. 





Fig. I. 



Fig. 2. 



168 



THE COMPENSATING BALANCE AND PENDULUM. 

The principles involved in either a compensating bal- 
ance or pendulum are nearly the same. It is a good idea to 
study them together. First, let us consider a simple pen- 
dulum (Fig. 2). It is suspended at A, the weight or pedulum 
bob is shown at C, the. center of oscillation at B. Each 
particle of metal above the point B has a tendency to quicken 
the vibrations, while all particles below that point retards 
them. If a small piece of the metal could be removed from 
the point D and placed at E the vibrations would be faster, 
as the center of oscillation would be raised above B, conse- 
quently the pendulum would be shortened. This principle 
will be spoken of again in another form. 

The gridiron, pendulum is used in most Swiss regulators, 
although in many cases they are made for appearance and 
not for use, the same as many of their balances. When a 
pendulum of this kind is properly constructed it will give 
very good results. The drawing in Fig. 3 shows very clearly 
how the rods of steel and brass are arranged. There are five 
steel rods and four brass ones. The double lines represent 
the steel and the heavy solid nnes the brass. The piece at the 
top, A, is connected by the two outer steel rods to the cross- 
piece B. Then the two brass rods extend from B to C. The 
next two steel rods extend from C to D. From D the next 
two brass rods extend to E and the center steel rod, which 
supports the weight, extends from B through the other pieces 
(freely) to the pendulum weight. The steel rods expand 
downward and the brass ones expand upward, and when 
properly adjusted the center of oscillation remains at the 
same point, consequently there will be no variation in the 
length of the pedulum at different temperatures. 

The mercurial pendulum is used largely in the best regu- 
lators and makes a very showy as well as a very reliable 
one. Here we have two metals, but one of them a liquid. In 
most cases glass jars are used to contain the mercury. The 
rod that supports them is made of steel, which expands or 
lengthens in heat, and of course contracts in cold. The 
mercury in the jars expands upward, raising the center of 
oscillation, the rod lengthening lowers this same point. The 
smaller the glass jars are in diameter, the more would the 
mercury rise in heat; if too small, the pendulum would over- 

169 




liUmniA 



Fig. 4. 



Fig. 3- 



THE COMPENSATING BALANCE AND PENDULUM. 

compensate. This pendulum is shown in Fig. 4. The nut at 
the end of the rod is used to raise and lower the mercury 
jars, or for the first timing, but when we obtain a very close 
rate to move this whole mass of weight, little enough would 
be hardly possible, so the extra nut shown at A is used. 
The principle alluded to at the beginning (Fig. 2) is now 
utilized. This nut as it is turned does not raise or lower 
the mercury or change the length of the pendulum, but rais- 
ing the weight of this nut by screwing it up has a tendency 
to quicken the vibrations or to lower it retards them, as by 
changing the position of this nut only, the center of oscilla- 
tion will be changed. 

I was asked some time ago to settle a dispute. A fine reg- 
ulator had been placed in one of our public buildings by a 
local jeweler, but he was not able to regulate it closely. It 
had a losing rate, and he removed some of the mercury from 
the glass cells in the pendulum to make it run faster. The 
gentleman in charge of the building being pretty well posted 
with the sciences, told the jeweler he thought the clock 
would go slower when the mercury was taken out. I was 
asked to settle the matter, and explained that by removing 
the mercury the center of oscillation would be lowered, making 
the pendulum longer, and the clock would go slower. The 
mercury was replaced, and the clock was soon regulated. 

Some clocks having a pedulum rod of wood well var- 
nished to keep the moisture of the air from affecting it, keep 
remarkably good time without any compensating arrange- 
ment. 

THE COMPENSATING BALANCE. 

We have learned that the vibrations of a pendulum de- 
pends upon its length; with a balance we learn that it de- 
pends upon its diameter, the larger diameter corresponding 
to the longer pendulum and vice versa. So if we have a bal- 
ance and move some of its weight farther from the center, 
it will go slower; or move a portion of its weight nearer the 
center, it will go faster. 

The compensating balance is made of two metals, usually 
of steel and brass, having different expansive properties. 
The metal that is affected most is placed on the outside of 
the balance. The steel and brass are either brazed or fused 

171 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 




Fig. 5- 




Fig. 6, 



together so the two metals are practically one piece. To 
illustrate the action of the balance more clearly the article 
shown in Fig. 5 was made; the upright rod supports two 

172 



The compensating balance and pendulum. 

straight pieces. Each of these pieces is composed of a strip 
of brass and steel soldered together with silver solder, the 
bra&s being on the inside in each case. At a normal tem- 
perature the pieces are parallel, but apply heat to them by 
the aid of an alcohol lamp, as shown in Pig. 6, the ends 
immediately begin to separate. The brass expands more than 
the steel, tries to pull the steel forward. The steel, on the 
contrary, tries to hold the brass back, as it does not expand 
so much, so they form a compromise and the pieces are 
bent in a curved direction. Were it possible now to place 




Fig. 7. 



these same pieces in extreme cold, then the ends would come 
together, as the brass would contract more than the steel. 
This illustrates very plainly the action of the compensating 
balance, only we have a round rim instead of the straight 
piece just shown. 

In order to show the actual effect of the different tem- 
peratures on a balance, the photographs in Figs. 7, 8, and 9 
were made. One of the screws was removed and in its place 
a wire was used to support the balance while subjecting it 
to the different temperatures. Fig. 7 shows the cut on op- 

173 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

posite side of the rim from the other two, being photographed 
from the under side. It also shows the rim in its normal po- 
sition at a normal temperature. In Fig. 8 we see the balance 
and a portion of the alcohol lamp. The flame does not show, 
as it is nearly colorless. The rims are thrown toward the 
center. It will be noticed that the one nearest the flame of 
the lamp is bent toward the center the most; also that it is 
not perfectly clear, as it moved by the action of the heat a 




Fig. 8. 



trifle while being photographed. In Fig. 9 we have the effect 
of extreme cold on the wheel. In this case the rim is thrown 
from the center. 

Now let us see what effect the action of heat and cold 
will have on the time keeping qualities of the watch. In heat 

174 



THE COMPENSATING BALANCE AND PENDULUM. 

we notice the free end of the rim comes nearer the center, 
carrying with it the screws or weights. This acting the 
same as a shorter pendulum, would cause the balance to vi- 
brate faster, and in the cold the rim would be thrown from 
the center, causing the balance to vibrate slower. When a 
watch runs fast in heat and slow in cold, it over compen- 
sates. In other words, the balance more than overcomes the 
effect of heat and cold on the hair-spring and other parts. 
If it should lose in heat and gain in cold, it would then un- 
der compensate. In either case the error may be corrected 




Fig. 9. 



by changing the position of the screws. By inspecting the 
rim we find several holes that have no screws in them, and 
also in many balances the holes are closer together near the 
end of the rim. This allows the screws to be moved a very 
small amount. 

In Fig. 10 we have a photograph of a modern balance 
wheel. The position of the screws would indicate that the 
tendency was to under compensate, as the weight is mostly 
near the end of the rim. If we should take the pair of 

175 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

screws marked 3 and place them between 4 and 5, the watch 
would run faster in heat and slower in cold than at present. 
There is one point often overlooked. The arms of the 
balance lengthen in heat and shorten in cold. By this action 
the whole rim would be thrown away or brought nearer the 
center, causing a losing or a gaining rate. At the same time, 
while the arm is expanding and moving the rim from the 
center, the action of the heat on the two metals in the rim 







t 


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^M 


V|d|^' 9 


^w 


1 


W 


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V 


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_ 


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Fig. 10. 
cause it to be brought nearer the center at the end, so there 
must be some point that is nearly stationary. This is called 
the neutral point and a screw placed at that point would 
have no effect on the temperature adjustment. This point 
will be very close to the small screws marked 2, and many 
watches are brought to time by placing screws at this point 
of the required weight. We should bear this in mind, and if 
at any time we find it necessary to change the weight of an 
adjusted watch, do it as near this point as possible, for we 

176 



THE COMPENSATING BALANCE AND PENDULUM. 

tan easily see that altering the weight of any screw near 
the end of the rim would also alter tlie adjustment. 

In the same illustration we see four screws — 1, 1, 4, 4 — 
that the heads do not come in contact with the rim. They 
are at the quarters and are sometimes called the quarter 
screws, but more often the timing screws. The threads fit 
very closely, and they are used for timing the watch. By 
unscrewing or turning them out the weight is moved farther 
from the center, which will cause the balance to vibrate slower. 
If they are screwed toward the center, the balance will vi- 
brate faster. We should always move the two opposite ones 
the same amouni, otherwise the wheel would be out of poise. 
We may move ore pair or both pairs as we desire. 

If a balance over compensates, we must move the screws 
toward the solid end of the rim. If it under compensates, 
the screws must be movea toward the free end of the rim. 
There must be some point between these two places where 
the rate will be the same in high and low temperature. 

In order to obtain a good rate, it is important that the 
balance should be carefully poised. This is often overlooked. 
The wheel should be perfectly true before poising, for should 
it be trued afterward the wheel would be thrown out of poise 
again. 

The balance should be in poise before any screws are put 
in, then each pair should be of the same weight. It is not 
necessary that all screws should be of the same size. To 
make this point more clear the drawing shown in Fig. 11 
was made. At A we have a rod with a one pound weight on 
each end. One would just balance the other, it would be in 
poise. 

At B we have two rods at right angles to each otlier. 
There is a one pound weight at each end of the horizontal 
rod and a ten pound weight at each end of the vertical rod. 
Each of these would be perfectly balanced. And at C we have 
three rods, with 1, 5 and 10 pounds. This one would also 
be perfectly balanced or poised, as the weights opposite each 
other are exactly the same. We may have some large and 
some small screws as long as each pair are of the same 
weight. In poising a balance that is known to have a close 
rate, it is best to add a small amount of weight to the light 

177 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 



(Z> 



<i)A 




Q> 



-®M 




Fig. II. 



THE COMPENSATING BALANCE AND PENDULUM. 

side and take away an equal amount from the heavy side. 
By so doing we will not alter the rate, which would be done 
if we should take it all off from one side. To reduce the 
weight on the heavy side we may undercut the head of the 
screw, as shown by the dotted lines in A Fig. 12, with a long 
pointed graver, or a still better way is to mill them out, as 



IMi 



^ :..:ai> 



1 



Fig. 12. 



shown at B, same illustration. Either of these methods does 
not disfigure the screws in any way. If we find it necessary to 
add a small amount of weight, we may do so by placing a 
timing washer under the head of the screw, always selecting 
one of the same diameter as the head. Should the thinnest 
ones be too heavy, we can easily grind it down on our ground 
glass with oil and oil stone powder to any required weight. 
By any of these methods we do not alter the appearance of 
the balance in any way. I will show a method of poising that 
came to my notice a short time ago in Pig. 13. This is not 

179 



Modern methods in horology. 

an example for any of my readers to follow, but shows how 
little respect some workmen have for either themselves or 
their work. The screw was filed on all sides in order to 




Fig. 13- 

make it lighter. There is no doubt about it doing the work, 
but oh! how it looks! 

If the balance is nearly in poise and requires but a small 
amount of weight removed, we can cut the slot a trifle deeper 
with a very thin screwhead file. 

A small pair of scales with grain weights will be found 
very useful when altering the weight of screws and poising 
a balance. 



180 



Sl"M^'"' 





Sx^^'^^w'r^A)S^p<TscKi'^Mi^''W'yj:, 



THE CYLINDER 
ESCAPEMENT. 




As long as the cheap cylinder watches are sold bj^ dealers, 
the watch-maker must be prepared to repair them, and in order 
to repair them, he must understand the principles of their 
consti'uction. 

I will not attempt to go into detail as much as with the 
"lever escapement," but will explain more particularly the 
points that will be helpful in repairing any that come our way. 

The cylinder or horizontal escapement, as it is often 
called, is a dead beat escapement, i. e., it has no recoil in 
unlocking. A tooth of the escape wheel is acting against 
some part of the cylinder at all times except during the drop. 

The cylinder is a very delicate part of the escapement; 
it is made of steel and must be very hard to stand the wear. 




/c: 



Fig. I. 

consequently it is very brittle and easily broken as the shell 
is only tempered to a straw color; it is on account of their 
hardness that they are so easily broken. 

To better illustrate the shape of the acting part of the 
cylinder, reference is made to Fig. 1. A represents the cen- 

181 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 




182 



THE CYLINDER ESCAPEMENT. 

ter of the pivots on which it rotates. B the receiving lip 
and C the let off lip of the cylinder. The drawing is a cross 
section, and is a trifle more than half of a circle, as shown 
by the dotted line it embraces an angle of about 196°. The 
shell is very thin, and we find that this thickness varies greatly 
in cylinders of the same outside diameter, some having quite 
thick shells and others very thin ones; for this reason two 
cylinders having the same diameter will not always work in 
the same watch as we will see a little later. 

Fig. 2 will give us a better idea of the size of the cylinder 
in regard to the teetb of the escape wheel. At A a tooth is 
shown inside of the cylinder, at B the cylinder is shown be- 
tween two teeth of the wheel. It will be noticed that in each 
case they do not fit closely; while a tooth is inside of the 
cylinder, there should be some play, also while the cylinder 
is between two teeth, there should be play. When this play 
or shake over a tooth and between two teeth is the same, the 
cylinder is the correct size for that wheel; the point previously 
mentioned may be now understood. If the shell was very thick 
and the cylinder fitted between the teeth with the necessary 
freedom, and we would try the tooth inside of the cylinder, 
we would find it would not enter, or if it would, the outside 
and inside shake would be unequal, consequently we would 
have unequal drop. 

A cylinder as we buy them is composed of four parts: 

a. The cylinder, a hollow steel shell partly cut away in 
two places; the upper portion not being cut quite half way, 
thus forming the two lips which are rounded and polished. The 
lower portion is cut away about three-fourths of its diameter; 
this is to allow the rim of the wheel which supports the tooth 
to pass through, while the balance makes its vibration. 

b. The top plug which fits in the cylinder tightly, fills 
the space from the top of the upper opening to the end of the 
cylinder and projects beyond far enough that the upper pivot 
may be turned upon it. 

c. The lower plug which fills the space from the bottom 
opening to the lower end of the cylinder and projects below 
far enough to turn the lower pivot. 

d. The brass collet which fits tightly upon the top end 
of the cylinder, and is turned to fit the balance wheel and the 

183 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. ■ 

Hairspring collet. Fig. 3 shows these parts clearly. As the 
top plug b and the brass collet d fit the cylinder closely, and 
are held in place by friction; the former may be driven out to 



^ 



U-2-jr. 



z: 



? 



Fig. 3- 



increase the length or to turn on a new pivot if the old one 
is broken, while the latter may be either driven up or down 
as the height of the balance requires. 

184 



THE CYLINDER ESCAPEMENT, 

In the same illustration, the height of the escape wheel 
is shown with reference to the cylinder. The web or rim of 
the wheel e should be of such a height that it will pass through 
the center of the lower opening in the cylinder e', then the 
height of the tooth f will work nicely on the lips above f. 

In order, to. convey a still better idea of a complete 
cylinder, the photograph of the finished one shown in Fig. 




Fig. 4. 

4 was made. This one is greatly enlarged, and gives a good 
idea of the general proportions. I also show a cross section 
of a cylinder through the lips. This is the part that is cut 
away nearly one-half; the receiving lip is rounded on both 
sides while the let off lip is only rounded on the inside. The 
reason for this is, the tooth of the wheel acts upon the out- 
side of the cylinder near the receiving lip, and as it gives 
impulse, the action takes place upon both edges of the lip, 
while with the let off lip, the tooth gives impulse by acting 

185 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

against the inside portion of the lip until the wheel drops. 

In fitting a new cylinder to replace a broken or faulty 
one, we will proceed about as follows: 

First, we must determine the size or diameter of the 
cylinder; if the old one worked properly, we may use one 
of the same dimeter for trial. We should very carefully try 




Fig. 5- 

the shake between two teeth and over one tooth; if it is equal 
in both cases, the cylinder should do. It may be that the old 
cylinder is lost or not of a proper size, then we must proceed 
differently, or if we are obliged to send to a material house 
for the new one, we would turn up a small piece of brass 
wire, so it will fit between two teeth of the escape wheel with 
a little play as shown in Pig. 7 at A; also at D Fig. 2. This 
piece of wire will be very close to the size required, and may 
be sent to the dealer; if we must order from the supply 
house, it would be well to order two or three, as the inside 
diameters will vary, and by so doing, we are quite sure of get- 
ting one that will fit. 

There is nothing difficult about taking the measurements 
for a new cylinder. There are three important ones: First, 
the whole length which is found by getting the distance from 

186 



THE CYLINDER ESCAPEMENT. 

the outside of the lower cap jewel to the outside of the upper 
cap jewel, then deducting the thickness of the two cap jewels; 
this will give the distance from inside of one to the inside 
of the other cap jewel, or the whole length of the cylinder, 
allowing nothing for end shake, which should be just enough 
for freedom. Second. The height of the balance wheel; there 
are several ways of getting this, but the simplest, and I think 
the most accurate is to place the hair-spring in position on the 
balance cock, then measure from the top hole jewel to the 
under side of the hair-spring collet, being very particular 



1 


I'd 




K 


s'^^qjj 


l^H 



Fig. 6. 



that the spring is flat with the balance cock, or in other 
words, it is in its normal position, that it will occupy on the 
wheel. To this measurement, we will add the thickness of 
the balance arm in the center, and we have the length from 
the end of the top pivot to the balance shoulder. Third. 
The most important measurement is the height of the 
lower slot in the cylinder, the part that is cut away three- 
fourths of the diameter of the shell. If this is located too 
high, the watch will not run. If it is located too low, the 
watch may run in one position and not in the opposite, as 
when too low the rim of the wheel that supports the teeth 

187 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

would rub on the top of the lower opening and could not en- 
ter it freely. To locate this opening properly, we will get the 
distance from the outside of the lower balance jewel (or cap 
jewel when we must take off its thickness) to the top of the 
web or rim of the wheel; to this, we will add one or two- 
tenths of a millimeter; if the opening in the cylinder is quite 
large, we may add two-tenths, or if rather small one-tenth will 
be ample. This gives us the distance from the end of the 
bottom pivot to the top of the lower opening in the cylinder. 




Fig. 7. 



When these three measurements are made, we are ready to 
fit our new cylinder. It is a good idea to first measure up 
the new one, and see if the brass collet is high or low enough, 
as it can be driven up or down now more easily than after 
being once cemented up. We should also get the distance 
from the top of the lower opening to the end of the bottom 
plug in order to tell how much to cut off after placing it in 
the cement. We must use cement in turning our cylinders, 
as the shell is so hard and so easily broken, we can support 
it in no other way. Some drive the shell out of the brass and 
turn the pivot in an ordinary wire chuck, but I do not like 
that method. Cement is one of the best friends a watch- 
maker has, and he should be thoroughly acquainted with its 
use. The plugs are seldom true with the cylinder, and for 

188 



THE CYLINDER ESCAPEMENT. 

that reason, we should turn the lower end first and true from 
the outside of the shell of the cylinder. If we true from the 
shell, then turn the lower pivot, both will be true with each 
other, while if we should true from the plug, and it is not true, 
then the cylinder would not run true with the pivot. After 
the lower pivot has been finished, the cylinder is taken out of 
the cement, its length should be carefully measured and then 
replaced in the cement, this time truing from the end of the 
top plug, as this is the point that entered the center of the 
cement chuck before; when this is done, the two pivots must 
be in line, which might not be so should it be trued up at any 
other point. By taking the required length of the cylinder 
from the complete length of the unfinished cylinder, we know 
at once how much must be cut from the projecting end to 
make our cylinder the correct length. When this is cut off, 
we have the top end of the upper pivot, and the other measure- 
ments may be taken from this point. 

It has been taken for granted that the reader understands 
the centering of a cement chuck, as this was clearly explained 
while turning the balance staff, the same principles hold good 
here. 

Great care is necessary that all the cement should be 
removed from the inside of the cylinder, after boiling in 
alcohol to remove the cement, it is a good idea to use a little 
fresh alcohol and carefully clean the outside and inside of the 
cylinder, as when the cement is dissolved it leaves a thin film 
on the surface, which appears to destroy the polish. 

On the outer edge of the balance wheel, we find a pin pro- 
jecting. This is the banking pin. We will also find another 
pin, usually on the under side of the balance cock that the 
banking pin will strike, as the balance wheel revolves; it is 
very important that the balance wheel be staked upon the 
cylinder in the correct position on account of these pins. 
When the cylinder is at rest, the banking pin in the balance 
should be exactly opposite the banking in the watch, and 
when the cylinder is at rest, the large opening (the upper 
one) should be toward the escape wheel, or a line drawn 
through the two lips of the cylinder would form a right-angle 
to the line of centers from the balance to the escape wheel. 

When in beat, the haLr-spring should be so placed on the 
189 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

balance that the cylinder will be in this same position when 
at rest. 

The use of some parts of a cylinder movement does not 
seem to be clearly understood; the chariot is one of them. 
This is a separate piece from the bottom plate in which the 



a 



\ 



h 




O O 



Fig. 8. 



lower balance jewel is set. The steady pins and screw of the 
balance cock, also enter it and by this means we are able 
to set the cylinder nearer or farther from the escape wheel, 
and by so doing, can increase or decrease the apparent lift 
of the cylinder, or more accurately speaking, we will in- 
crease the amount of lock, the lift being determined by the 
height of the incline on the tooth of the escape wheel. It is 

190 



THE CYLINDER ESCAPEMENT. 

very important that the lock should be enough and at the 
same time, it should not be too great. The correct amount 
of lock and lift is shown on nearly every movement by either 
two or three dots on the bottom plate near the rim of the 
balance. The space between the two outside dots represents 
the distance the balance should move, while a tooth is un- 
locking and giving impulses to either lip of the cylinder, in 
other words, the balance should move this distance while the 
escape wheel makes two successive drops. If the balance 




Fig. 9. 



moves a greater distance than the space between the two out- 
side dots, the cylinder is set too close to the escape wheel and 
the chariot should be moved back, and if it should not move 
so far the chariot should be brought forward until it has the 
correct amount. When the balance makes a very quick short 
vibration, the cause is nearly always too light locking, or 
none at all. We often find a movement where the impulse 

191 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

is good with the exception of three or four teeth, where the 
quick vibrations will occur. This is nearly always caused 
by the escape wheel being out of center, the fault being a 
pinion that is not true or the hole in the wheel not in the 
center. The dots are shown plainly in Fig. 6. In many 
movements a dot is placed on the balance rim. This dot 
should be opposite the center dot when at rest, and is some- 
times used in putting a watch in beat, although in many 
instances, it cannot be depended upon, as when a new cylin- 
der has been put in, the balance is often staked on in a little 
different position from the original; this would not seriously 
affect the running of the watch, but would be enough to af- 
fect the b(mt. 

We often find after a cylinder has been in use for some 
time that the impulse faces of the teeth have worn little 
notches in both lips of the cylinder; when this is found 
the best plan would be to put in a new cylinder, but as our 
customer will not always be willing to stand the expense, 
we may repair the old one, so it will give very good satis- 
faction by grinding out the worn places with a small iron 
grinder and oil-stone powder and oil, rounding off the cor- 
ners again as when new, then polshing with diamantine and 
oil. When this has been done, it will be necessary to move 
the chariot a little in order to bring the cylinder closer to 
the escape wheel. 

Again, we often find the impulse faces of the escape 
wheel either poorly polished or rough from wear. To polish 
all of these teeth would at first seem to be a tedious task, but 
it can be quickly accomplished in a very simple manner. 
Place the escape whel in the lathe by clamping the leaves 
of the pinion very lightly in a chuck. Now, take a piece of 
very thin sheet brass or an old main spring from which the 
temper has been drawn, and file it very thin, place a little 
diamantine and oil on the end of this piece of metal and hold 
lightly against the impulse face of a tooth. Revolve the 
lathe slowly, and the spring in the polisher will cause it to 
drop from the heel of one tooth on to the point of the next, 
when it will slide along the impulse face and drop upon the 
one following, etc. One who has never tried this method, 

192 



THE CYLINDER ESCAPEMENT. 

will be surprised to see how quickly it can be done, and also 
how well. 

We often wish to remove one of the plugs in order to put 
in a new one, and find them hard to start; if it is the lower 
one, tap the cylinder lightly with a hammer on the outside, 
which will stretch the shell, when the plug may be easily re- 
moved. The upper plug may be treated in the same manner, 
but it would be necessary to drive the cylinder out of the brass 
collet. This may be accomplished by using a punch lilte the 
one shown at a, in Fig. 8, which will have to be made, as they 
are not found in any of the staking tools. It will be necessary 
to have several sizes. The punch at the end should be slightly 
smaller than the outside diameter of the cylinder so it will rest 
on the end of the shell, and drive the cylinder out of the col- 
let without affecting the latter. We should have two or three 
cylinder punches like &, Fig. 8. These may be found in all 
staking tools, but are too large for use, and as many or most 
of the cylinders are very small, we will be required to make 
our own punches. These should be tempered to a blue; a 
punch of this kind is used for driving out the plugs; another 
form c, same illusttration, is very seful for driving the cylin- 
der up when necessary to lower the brass. 

When an escape wheel is not true in the flat, it is liable 
to strike either the top or the bottom of the opening. If it 
touches on the bottom the watch would stop, and if on the 
top, the wheel would recoil when the lower end of the top 
lip struck it. The steel wheels are very hard and difficult to 
bend; the fault may be caused by the wheel not being staked 
on the pinion properly, but many times the wheel has been 
bent. We may true a wheel by bending the arms, which may 
be done by turning up a small brass stump to fit our bench 
block and using a round face punch, as shown in Pig. 9; a 
hole is drilled in the center of the stump large enough to allow 
the pinion to enter; if we wished to raise one side of the 
wheel, we place the punch on top of the arm. If we wish to 
lower one side, we place the wheel bottom up and the punch on 
the under side of the arm, being now of course the upper 
side. By using a brass stump (a lead one is sometimes used), 
the metal is soft enough that the hard steel will bend and 
there is very little danger of breaking a wheel. 

193 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

The spaces between the teeth of an escape wheel are sel- 
dom all the same, as all steel will spring more or less in hard- 
ening. When the spaces are irregular, it is sometimes neces- 
sary to grind a trifle off from the back of some teeth that 
the cylinder may be free all around. 






194 



^ \r~s A, tffvi r^ 'v-rfTin r-^ ysn^/n'r M)~yiV'^~^'\^^r^i'^'n'''^^^r^ '^^"^ f?^ „=r "tx'*' vTl^^^^ 




THE DUPLEX 
ESCAPEMENT. 




The Duplex Escapement was one of the first invented, 
and for a time was in general use, hut the Lever Escapement 
was so much superior, that it took the place of the Duplex 
and for a number of years the manufacture of the latter 
was discontinued until one of the American manufacturers 
brought out a cheap watch containing this escapement and 
today they are rapidly taking the place of the cheap cylinder 
watches of foreign make. This enterprising company make a 
very attractive line of cases and a great variety of move- 
ments, and for a cheap watch they are giving very good 
satisfaction. 

It seems almost out of place to say much about the re- 
pairing of the Duplex Escapement at this time, but as they 
are now in general use, and we are called upon to clean 
and repair them, it is quite necessary to understand the prin- 
ciples upon which they are constructed. 

In the Lever Escapement, the balance is free from the 
lever and the train during the greater portion of its move- 
ment, and for that reason it is called the "Detached Lever," 
In the Duplex, the escape wheel teeth are in contact with tne 
balance staff nearly the whole time. It is often spoken of as 
a "dead beat," but is not, strictly speaking, as the escape 
wheel recoils as we will presently see. 

The duplex escape wheel is a double one as it has two 
sets of teeth, one for locking and the other for impulse. At 
first, two wheels were used being staked upon the same 
pinion, but this was found to be less satisfactory than hav- 
ing all of the teeth cut from a solid piece of metal. There 
has been many changes in the shapes of the teeth and the 
style of the wheels. Many of the old escapements had wheels 
of the form shown in Fig. 1; here we have double teeth for 
locking and a single tooth for impulse. We have twelve 
locking teeth (six double ones). Where a wheel of this form 
is used the balance will receive an impulse only every fourth 

195 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

vibration as when the first tooth passes through the notch 
in the staff or locking roller, the second tooth locks against 
the staff or roller, and when the second tooth passes through 
the notch, the impulse arm should be in such a position that 




Fig. I. 



the impulse tooth will drop upon it, and give the balance its 
impulse. The amount of drop is quite an important thing. 
We should always keep in mind while working on an es- 
capement of this kind, that if we increase our drop, we must 
decrease our lift or impulse, and if we decrease our drop, we 
will increase our impulse, and consequently the motion of the 
balance. It will be easily understood that we should give as 
little drop as we can, and have the action of the escapement 
196 



THE DUPLEX ESCAPEMENT. 

perfectly safe. Fig. 2 shows the style of escape wheel used 
in the Duplex Escapement now being manufactured. A sin- 
gle tooth takes the place of the double ones shown in Pig. 
1. In this case, the balance will receive an impulse each al- 




Fig. 2. 



ternate vibration. An escape wheel of this kind has as many 
locking teeth as impulse teeth. 

The action of the escapement may be better explained 
by the aid of the drawing shown in Fig. 3. A represents the 
escape wheel a a a the locking teeth, b b b the impulse teeth, 
which project above the top surface of the rim of wheel; c is 
the locking roller, or as is made at the present time is the 
lower end of the staff, the notch d being milled out for the 

197 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 




198 



THE DUPLEX ESCAPEMENT. 

looth to pass through; e e e is the impulse arm. It is usually 
staked upon the staff, and is moved forward or backward to 
regulate the drop. In some of the movements instead of this 
impulse arm, a pin projects from the underside of the balance 
arm, the impulse teeth of the wheel drop upon this, giving the 
balance impulse in the same manner as before. It will be 
seen that the locking teeth lock but a very small amount on 
the roller c, so that a very little side shake of the pivots of 
either the balance staff or escape pinion would greatly effect 
its action, and for this reason it is necessary that the pivots 
should fit the jewel holes more closely than in any of the 
other escapements. The action of the escapement is as fol- 
lows: — the tooth a is locking against the surface of the roller 
c, or against the staff as the case may be. The balance moves 
in the direction of the arrow; as soon as the notch moves 
around far enough the tooth drops into it, but is immediately 
thrown out as the notch passes by, the elasticity of the hair- 
spring brings the balance back and the tooth a drops into 
the notch d again, and this time passes forward with it until 
it passes out on the opposite side, if there was nothing to 
interfere the tooth back of this one would immediately pass 
forward and occupy the position the first one had at the 
start, but we find something to prevent this. At the mo- 
ment the tooth a passes out of the notch in this small roller, 
the impulse arm has moved forward until it is just in front 
of the tooth b, so that when the wheel moves forward, this 
impulse tooth drops upon the end of the impulse arm e, giving 
the balance impulse until it passes off from it at the point 
shown by the intersection of the dotted circle at f. When 
this tooth leaves the impulse arm, the locking tooth is near 
the roller and the real drop is but a small amount as impulse 
has been given the balance while the wheel has been moving 
forward, these movements are repeated during each double 
vibration. At the left of the drawing, the impulse arm is 
shown in the position it is in when the wheel drops or at the 
beginning of the impulse.. At the right side of the same 
drawing the wheel and impulse arm are shown in their posi- 
tion, at the end of the impulse or just as the wheel is about 
to drop and the long tooth lock on the roller. The impulse 
arm, roller and escape wheel are shown in the center as 

199 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

they would be when in a state of rest, or when the Duplex 
Escapement would he in beat, it will be noticed that the notcn 
in the smaller roller is on the line of centers denoted by the 
dotted line. There are some cases where the watch will give 
better satisfaction when the notch is a trifle in advance or 
back of this position, yet in most cases, it is placed on the 
line. 

The drop may be changed by moving the impulse arm on 
the staff, where it is held by friction. If we bring the im- 
pulse arm and the notch in the roller near together, we will 
increase the drop, as we increase the drop, we decrease the 
impulsie, so we should give as little drop as possible, and have 
it safe. If we move the impulse arm in the opposite direc- 
tion, denoted by the arrow, we will decrease the drop, and of 
course increase the lift. 

Two lifts or impulses are given, the primary and the 
secondary, the latter is given as the tooth passes through the 
notch in the roller and is not a very powerful one, yet enough 
to be easily seen. The primary or main impulse is given as 
the upright teeth drop upon the impulse arm, the length of 
this arm being longer and the radius of the wheel shorter, 
the balance will receive a very powerful impulse. 

A Duplex Escapement when properly set and having no 
hair spring, will impel the balance so it will revolve contin- 
uously in one direction until the watch runs down. 

In the oldest movements the locking roller was made of 
either ruby or garnet cemented to the staff, the surface of 
the jewel being highly polished reduced the friction of the 
locking tooth. The impulse arm was also jeweled so the 
friction was reduced to the smallest amount possible. 

A word about selecting a roller of the correct size may 
be helpful. If we examine the action carefully, we will notice 
that the end of the impulse arm as it returns after receiv- 
ing its impulse just passes the upright tooth in the wheel, 
the one nearest the center at the right in the drawing, and 
as the arm returns from the other side the end will just pass 

200 



THE DUPLEX ESCAPEMENT. 

the tooth at the left of the center denoted by the dotted lines, 
the wheel moves forward as the locking tooth passes through 
the notch in the roller and is in the position denoted just at 
the drop, the action just explained is the correct one. If the 
end of the impulse arm should barely pass the tooth on the 
right and have considerable space as it returns on the left, 
this would show at once that the roller was too large. If on 
the contrary, the space at the right was large and at the 
left very little, then the roller would be too small. 

Should it be found necessary at any time to make a new 
impulse arm, its length may be determined as above, mak- 
ing it as long as possible and pass the teeth on each side. 

The American made duplex watches have advantages over 
those made at first: Where the locking roller is separate 
from the staff, the notch in the roller must be quite shallow, 
consequently the locking must be very light, and the friction 
or point of rest being nearer the line of centers would have 
a tendency to retard the motion, while the later ones are 
made with the locking roller, a part of the staff, the notch 
being milled in the side and this notch often is more than 
half way through the staff. This permits a greater locking, 
making it safer and with less friction. A staff to fit any of 
the movements can be bought for a few cents, but often we will 
lose the job unless it can be done in a short time, so in a 
case of emergency we ought to know how to make one. The 
most difficult part will be to make the notch for the tooth 
to pass through. If one has a wheel cutter or milling attach- 
ment, it can easily be done, but as most workmen do not 
possess these, a simpler and just as effective method will be 
given. We may turn down a piece of steel wire which has 
not been hardened, until it is a little larger than the lower 
end of the staff is to be when finished. Now, make a steel 
punch with the end the shape the notch is in the staff, harden 
and temper to a straw color, then place the turned part of 
the wire on a bench block or some hard surface, and drive 
this punch into the soft steel where required. It may spring 
the wire and make it out of true, but we may put the wire in 
the lathe, and by bending make it run true, when it can be 
hardened and tempered to a blue, and the staff finished. I 

201 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

have made a great many in this manner that gave good 
service. 

It is quite important at the present time to be able to do 
this Icind of repairing, as these watches are coming into very 
general use, and are rapidly taking the place of the cheap 
cylinder movements that are so poorly made. 




202 






THE CHRONOMETER 



J3 



,g ESCAPEMENT. g.^,. 



The average watchmaker is less familiar with the 
chronometer escapement than any in common use, in some 
localities he is never called upon to clean or repair them 
while in other places they are much core common. 

Pocket chronometers never came in general use on 
account of their delicate construction, making them unsuit- 
able for portable time pieces and not giving the satisfaction 
of a good lever escapement, which is less expensive. 

For marine time pieces, the chronometer surpasses all 
other escapements, and "Marine Chronometers" are used by 
the best jewelers throughout the country to denote their 
standard time, and to regulate their watches. 

A ship at sea must determine its location by the time 
of its chronometers, a variation of only a few seconds mak- 
ing a difference of many miles, so it will be seen at once 
they require the most acurate time piece that can be maae. 
As a safeguard the large ocean liners and the great battle- 
ships have three or four fine chronometers, each having a 
very close rate. Sy- — Ksem^arrng- -with- each other they 
?pery^ eiose— rat®. By comparing them with each other they 
can take the average of them all, and in this manner obtain 
more accurate time than could be possible with only a single 
one. In the Naval Observatory at Washington, all of the 
chronometers used in the navy and other government vessels 
are rated; one room is devoted to this work: all new ones 
are also rated here before sending out. A perfect time 
piece has not yet been made, and the finest chronometers 
have either a constant gaining or losing rate, and this gain 
or loss must be deducted or added when determining the 
longitude at sea. 

The chronometer, while of delicate construction, is at 
the same time one of the most simple we have to deal with. 
It is often classed with the dead-beat escapements, but as 
the locking jewel in the detent is set at such an angle 

203 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

that it will have draft, and in all cases where there is draft, 
the escape wheel must recoil in unlocking, the chronometer 
cannot be a dead beat, although it is the most free or de- 
tached of an escapement now in use. 

Marine chronometers have one advantage over all port- 
able time pieces — they have to be adjusted for one position 
only, as it is suspended horizontally in gimbals, and the outer 
case of the movement is often heavily weighted in order 
that it may always remain in the same position. The great 
advantage of having a movement constantly in the same 
position can be readily seen. 

In these days of twenty-one and twenty-three jeweled 
watches, one would be inclined to think a chronometer. 




Fig. I. 



which has such a fine rate must have many more. Such 
is not the case, however, as many of the very finest ones 
have but nine or eleven jewels. A good, hard brass bearing 
for a pivot is about as good as a jewel if well oiled, and 
will wear a great many years. 

By keeping the movement constantly in one position, 
we have reduced the position adjustment to the minimum, 
and by the construction of the movement we may also 
reduce the isochronal adjustment. This is done by the aid 
of the fusee and chain, which is made like the ones found 

204 



THE CHRONOMETER ESCAPEMENT. 

in English lever watches, only larger. When the main- 
spring is fully wound, we know it has a stronger pull than 
when nearly run down. In an ordinary watch, the balance 
will have a longer arc of vibration when first wound than 
when nearly run down. The fusee and chain prevents this, 
and if properly constructed, the arc of vibration will be 
the same at all times. Fig. 1 shows us the fusee, chain 
and barrel of a chronometer. When the spring is fully 
wound, the chain acts upon the small part of the fusee; the 
leverage being small, this counteracts the extra power of 
the fully wound spring. When the spring is nearly run 
down, the chain is puling on the largest part of the fusee, 
and consequently exerts more power; so when a fusee is 
properly graduated, the force of the main spring is trans- 
mitted to the train of the chronometer without any per- 
ceptible variation, and if this force is not variable, the bal- 
ance will have the same arc of vibration at all times, and 
if so, will make them in practically the same time. This 




Fig. 2. 

being the case, the isochronal adjustment can be easily 
accomplished. 

Fig 2 shows a general view of a marine chronometer. 
The chain is nearly all wound around the barrel, showing 

205 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

it is about run down. The balance and the cylindrical 
spring are seen above the top plate. 

Another thing where the chronometer differs from most 
time pieces is, the absence of a regulator. This is better 
shown in Fig. 3, which is a top view and shows the bal- 
ance, with its weights, the balance cock, with the hair-spring 




Fig. 3- 



stud, but no regulator of any kind. It has often been said 
that a watch that was fully adjusted should have no reg- 
ulator, as the movement of the regulator would change the 
length of the spring, and, consequently, its isochronal ad- 
justment. This fault is entirely eliminated by the construc- 
tion of the balance used in the chronometer. The one here 
shown (Fig. 4) has the auxiliary compensation, the two 
screws at the end of the arms are used in timing, being 

206 



THE CHRONOMETER ESCAPEMENT. 

turned out to make it run slower and toward the center 
to make it run faster. When the chronometer has a very 
close rate, it is almost impossible to turn the screws little 
enough to bring it to time. The two round weights are 
used instead of screws, and are made to slide freely on 
the rim of the balance. This is better shown in Fig. 5, 
which is a photograph of the underside of the balance. The 
weights are held in place by small screws on the inside 




Fig. 4. 

bearing against the steel part of the rim (not shown), as 
these weights must be moved nearer or farther from the 
end of the rim, as required for the temperature adjustments 
(which was explained under the subect of compensating bal- 
ances and pendulums). It will be seen that we are able to 
get a finer adjustment by the sliding weights than could be 
possible with screws which must be moved from one hole 
to the next, when they might require only a part of that 
distance to produce the required effect. 

The escape wheel must be made very light that it 
may move quickly and impart the impulse to the bal- 
ance without any loss of time. The teeth are made quite 
thick, but the rim of the wheel is very delicate. Fig. 6 

207 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

shows such an escape wheel. The teeth are pointed and 
resemble those of an English lever watch. 

The most delicate part of the escapement is the detent. 
This is made of two forms, the pivoted detent where the 
detent is supported on an arbor that is pivoted at each 
end, and the tension is given by a small hair-spring on the 
arbor. The tension can be increased or diminished by turn- 
ing the collett on the arbor. This form is used in pocket 
chronometers. The spring detent is shown in Fig. 7. The 
detent and spring are made of one piece, the spring being 
ground very thin. The photograph shows a side view. The 
gold spring is also shown, held in place by the screw. The 
jewel the teeth of the escape wheel lock on may also be seen 




Fig. 5- 



projecting above the top of the detent. A better idea of the 
appearance of the top the detent and gold spring may be had 
from the drawing. Fig. 8. The action of the escapement may 
also be better understobd from this drawing. It consists of 
the following importnat parts: 

The escape wheel A, the impulse roller B, the unlock- 
ing pallet or roller C, the detent D, and the gold spring E. 

It will he noticed that the gold spring rests against the 
detent at the end, so while the balance turns in one direc- 
tion, the unlocking pallet moves the gold spring away from 

208 



THE CHRONOMETER ESCAPEMENT. 

the detent and immediately it comes back against it again 
as soon as released, but the detent has not been moved. 
Now, when the balance turns in the other direction and the 




Fig. 6. 



unlocking pallet comes in contact with the gold spring, it 
Carries the detent with it, and when the detent moves far 
enough to allow the tooth of the escape wheel, which 
was locking on the jewel in the detent, to pass off, the 
wheel is free to drop, but as the rollers have moved for- 
ward, the jewel (F) in the impulse roller has also moved 
forward until it is just in front of a tooth of the escape 
wheel, and this tooth drops upon the jewel in the roller, 
giving the balance impulse until the tooth passes off from 
the jewel. Meanwhile the unlocking pallet (G) has released 
the gold spring and the detent has gone back to its original 
position so the tooth of the escape wheel will lock on the 
jewel in the detent again. The drop should be as little as 
we can give it and have it safe. The less drop we give it, 
the greater the impulse. 

To have the escapement work properly, the unlocking 
pallet should move the detent forward until the escape wheel 
drops upon the impulse jewel in the large roller. Immedi- 
ately after the drop, the gold spring should be released 
and detent come back to its former position, leaving every- 
thing perfectly free to give the balance its full impulse. A 

209 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 




CHRONOMETER 
ESCAPEMENT. 



A 



[ 



o 



Fig. 7. 



210 



THE CHRONOMETER ESCAPEMENT. 

very common fault is to have the gold spring too long, 
so it will not release the detent soon enough. When this 
is so, the force of the train is imparting impulse to the 
balance, while the force of this spring is holding it back, 
and one force counteracts that of the other to a certain 
extent. 

The space between the teeth and the circumference 
of the large roller should be about the same. The points 
of the teeth should not come in contact with the outside 
of the roller. If these spaces are unequal, they may be 



4 




Fig. 8. 



corrected by setting the detent forward or backward. By 
moving the detent forward, the space between the tooth will 
be diminished on the side toward the detent, and the space 
on the opposite side will be increased. The space in front 
should be a trifle greater than that at the back to allow 
for the recoil of the escape wheel in unlocking. 

If we move the two jewels in the rollers nearer to- 
gether, we will increase our drop and decrease our lift or 
impulse. 

A chronometer escapement will not start itself when 
the power is applied like a lever watch, but must be started 
by moving the balance enough to unlock the tooth from 
the locking jewel of the detent. 

A chronometer should be put in beat by placing the 
hair-spring on the staff in such a position that when the 
balance is at rest, the unlocking jewel will be just in front 
of the gold spring and resting against it. The position of 
the rollers and detent in the drawing is at rest. 

211 



MODERN MiyrHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

The banking screw, H, is used for adjusting the lock. 
The detent rests against the head of this screw. By un- 
screwing it, we will allow the detent to come closer to the 
escape wheel, giving more lock, and by screwing it in, the 
detent will be carried away from the escape wheel, giving 
less lock. 

Most marine chronometers have 14,400 vibrations per 
hour, or 240 per minute. As the balance receives an impulse 
only each alternate vibration, it would receive 120 per min- 
ute, or two a second. The second-hand moves each time the 
balance is given an impulse, so the second-hand will, move 
twice every second, or once every half second. 

Most chronometers are made to run fifty-six hours, but 
are usually wound every twenty-four hours. 

The average workman is not often called upon to repair 
chronometers, yet he should be familiar with their con- 
struction, as it requires even more skill to do the work that 
is not common, than it does to do that which presents itself 
day after day. The chronometer is very delicate, and re- 
quires carefulness, otherwise it is not so difficult to clean 
or repair. 




212 



ST." 




e£A50UsV?L^!lLAj;»V«[jOLA3?v«EA3L^ 



CLEANING AND OILING. 






Human ingenuity has conceived and constructed many 
ponderous machines and delicate instruments that are almost 
life-like in their actions. None of them are more delicate 
or are expected to perform better or for so long a time 
without attention as our time pieces. An ordinary machine 
which is in use only eight or ten hours each day is care- 
fully oiled one or more times daily, and yet the average time 
piece is expected to run from one to three years after be- 
ing cleaned and oiled. When one li:nows the oil is constantly 
thickening and is exposed to the heat of Summer or intense 
cold of Winter, and during all of these changes and condi- 
tions the time pieces are not expected to vary but a few 
seconds for months, a very difficult problem confronts the 
watchmaker. 

It is generally conceded that anyone can clean a watch 
if he can do anything, as this is one of the first things an 
apprentice is taught to do; yet, I claim it takes as much skill 
to clean and oil a watch properly as anything we are re- 
quired to do. Some workmen brag of their speed, claiming 
to be able to clean a watch in twenty minutes. No one can 
do it properly in that time. Of course, each individual has 
his own method of doing the work, which he thinks is the 
quickest and best. Speed in these days of strong competition 
is an important factor, but quality of work should never be 
sacrificed in order to gain speed. 

One of the most important things we often neglect is 
the proper inspection of the work before setting a price on 
the repairing. If the following plan is carried out, you can 
get one-half more for your work and have a better satisfied 
customer as well — two very necessary requirements. When 
a watch is brought in for repairs, don't glance at it and say 
it needs cleaning and will cost $1.50, as too many are in the 
habit of doing, but tell your customer to call again in an hour 
or two, as your time demands, or if he cannot call again, 

213 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

take time to properly examine it while lie is waiting, take 
the watch down carefully, examine the pivots to see if they 
require polishing, examine the jewels, some may be broken; 
the stem wind parts should be well inspected; any of these 
defects show your customer, allowing him to look through 
your eye glass, show him a pivot that is broken and explain 
that you must drill a hole in that piece, carefully fit a piece 
of steel to it and turn a new pivot like the other one. After 
showing what must be done, he will feel satisfied to pay a 
good price, for he knows it will require great skill to do 
such deicate work; the same person would be very much 
dissatisfied to pay less if he did not see what had to be 
done. 

If you look over a watch hastily and tell your customer 
it will cost him $1.50 to do the work, you are in duty bound 
to do it for that if it costs you more, for it is your fault that 
you did not know what was required, and if you try to 
convince your customer it is worth $2.50 when you said it 
would cost only $1.50, you will have a hard time of it, and 
if you do succeed, there is liable to be hard feelings. 

It is a good plan to have some small wooden boxes, like 
Fig. 1, made to keep the movements in when taken down for 
inspection, also some little pieces of paper on which may be 
written the items of repairs necessary; then when your cus- 
tomer returns, the movement is in shape to show him any 
defects and the record is with it on the paper. 

It will seem at first that this method will require too 
much time, but all work must be examined before the re- 
pairing is done and the extra amount that can be charged 
for the same work will more than pay for the small amount 
of extra labor, and what is more, you have a satisfied cus 
tomer, the best of it all. 

By this method we have a list of what repairs are nec- 
essary when ready to do the work. By checking these off 
as completed we know when we are ready to clean the move- 
ment. Too many begin the cleaning before the repairing 
has been done, with the result that some parts will have 
to be cleaned several times. We shoutld make it a rule to 
always make any needed repairs, polish any pivots that are 

214 



CLEANING AND OILING. 

black or rough, and place every part in first class con- 
dition before beginning the operation of cleaning. 

Every watchmaker has his own method of cleaning. Of 
course, he thinks his way is the best. Some have gone so 
far as to invent machines for doing this work. I am satis- 
fied that most of the work must be done by hand. 

We should procure some good benzine (not gasoline), 
only the very best quality being suitable for watch work; 





Fig. I. 



some grain alcohol, some cyanide of potassium (a deadly 
poison), and a cake of pure castile soap (Ivory soap may be 
used, but it is not as good). 

We will make a solution of the cyanide of potassium 
by dissolving 1 to 1% ounces of it in a quart of water, rain 
water being the best. Many form a wrong idea of the use 
of this cyanide solution. It does not clean off the grease 
or dirt, but only brightens the surfaces and gives them a 
newness that is desirable. This solution should be labeled 

215 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

poison and only used for watch work. It should also be kept 
in a covered receptacle. 

The alcohol Is used to dry the parts rapidly and to 
prevent any parts from rusting that should not be properly 
dried. 

Our method of procedure is about as follows : String 
the larger parts, like plates, bridges and stem-wind parts, 
on small wires, having a loop on one end, slip the other 
end of the wire through this loop and the parts are secure. 
On another similar wire, place the train wheels and smaller 
parts; the escape wheel is placed on another one by itself 
in order to prevent any damage to its delicate teeth. 

If any of the parts are very greasy or the oil has be- 
come very thick on them, they may be placed in the benzine 
a few moments; this will cut the grease and gum; if not in 
bad condition, this operation may be dispensed with, and the 
parts carefully washed by using a medium stiff brush and 
soap and water, using soft water when it can be had; this 
removes the dirt, after which it is well rinsed in water. Now, 
we place it in the solution of cyanide for only a moment, 
which brightens the parts, when it should be thoroughly 
rinsed again to remove all of the cyanide. The parts are 
now placed in alcohol, which absorbs the water; after re- 
maining in the alcohol about a half of a minute, they should 
be placed in fine box-wood sawdust and kept in motion until 
none of the sawdust adheres to the parts, when we know they 
are dry. 

Parts that are cemented in with shellac, such as the 
pallet stones and jewel pin, should not remain in the alcohol, 
as the cement would be dissolved. They may be dipped in 
the alcohol and immediately dried in the sawdust without 
any danger, but in most cases it is not necessary. 

All cap jewels or end stones must be removed in clean- 
ing. Many workmen remove them all before cleaning, but 
by so doing they sometimes become changed or the hole 
jewels may get transposed and cause considerable trouble, 
especially if the escapement is cap-jeweled, so instead of 
taking them out before cleaning, I always leave them in the 
plates and also in the balance cock and potance until these 
parts are cleaned, then remove one of them, thoroughly 

216 



CLEANING AND OILING. 

clean the cap jewel and peg out the hole jewel until it is 
also perfectly clean and replace the cap jewel and the 
screws, proceed the same with each of the cap and hole 
jewels. By so doing, there is no possible chance of making 
a mistake, and it can be done in less time. All of the pivot 
holes and jewels should be pegged out until the pegwood 
remains white when taken out. It is also a good idea to 
go through each leaf of the pinion with the point of a peg- 
wood, as there is always a thin film on the surface of the 
steel that can hardly be removed in any other manner. 

It is necessary to brush out all parts with a soft, clean 
brush in order to remove every particle of sawdust. In 
brushing the plates or any finished part, always brush in 
a circular direction, otherwise the parts are liable to show 
the marks left by the brush. 

From the time the parts leave the sawdust, they should 
not come in contact with the fingers in any way, as noth- 
ing is so unsightly as a watch plate with finger marks upon 
it. This is not a mere matter of looks, but if a finger mark 
should be left on a piece of polished steel, in a short time it 
would rust, caused by the perspiration, and nothing will re- 
move it except refinishing the surface of the steel, which 
in many cases would ruin it. All parts should be handled 
with the tweezers and the plates held in the best tissue paper 
that can be procured, that of Dennison's being about the 
best. 

The lever and the balance pivots may be cleaned with 
a soft piece of pith, or they may be placed in a solution of 
equal parts of benzine and sulphuric ether. This will clean 
off the old oil quickly and the surface dries at once, as the 
benzine and ether evaporates so rapidly. This solution is 
a splendid one for cleaning the hair-spring, and is superior 
to benzine alone in all cases, but more expensive. It should 
not be used near a flame. 

There is a difference of opinion about removing the 
main-spring from the barrel in cleaning. The spring is the 
life of the watch and must be in good condition, and if the 
oil is thick and gummy, I always remove it carefully from 
the barrel, but never put it in benzine to clean. If it is 
very gummy, place plenty of oil on it or dip it in sperm oil; 

217 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

this will loosen all of the old oil, and we may now carefully 
wipe off the oil with a soft, clean cloth or a piece of tissue 
paper, when the spring may be replaced with a winder. 
There is no great danger of breakage when done in this man- 
ner, but when the strain of the spring is suddenly released 
in removing from the barrel, there is danger of its breaking 
soon after being replaced. 

All parts are now supposed to be thoroughly cleaned, and 
we are ready to put the movement together and oil it. 

Many very good workmen are quite careless about oil- 
ing. This important part requires as great care and should 




Fig. n. 



be done as carefully as any of the cleaning. The stem-wind 
parts should be oiled as they are replaced, clock oil being 
better than watch oil, as it is a trifle thicker. None of the 
teeth of the wheels should be oiled, except the ratchet teeth 
found in many Swiss and some of the later American move- 
ments. The ratchet teeth and the square winding arbor 
upon which one of the wheels slide should be oiled. I have 
found many cases where the winding seemed very rough, par- 
ticularly when turned backward that would be very free and 
easy after being properly oiled. 

The main-spring should be thoroughly oiled as the coils 
slide upon each other, and we must reduce the friction as 
much as we possibly can. 

A very important part is the pivot of the center wheel 
that passes through the pillar plate. We often find this 
pivot perfectly dry and badly cut from not being well oiled. 
There are cases where the cannon pinion comes too close to 
the plate and the capillary attraction draws the oil away 
from the pivot, after which it soon begins to wear. The 

218 



CLEANING AND OILING. 

cannon pinion should never come in contact witti the plate, 
the shoulder of the pivot being long enough to prevent it. 
In oiling this it is a very good idea to place a small amount 
of oil on the shoulder of the pivot before placing it in the 
plate, also oiling again afterward. 

There is a great difference of opinion about the proper 
method of oiling the balance pivots or any jewels having end 
stones or cap jewels. Some place the oil on the flat sur- 
face of the jewel before replacing it. This, I think, is the 
very worst practice possible. Take, for instance, the regu- 
lator cap of a Swiss watch. When oiled in that manner the 
oil will be smeared all over the top of the balance cock 




Fig. III. 

before the regulator can be put on and the screws replaced. 
The capillary attraction will take the oil away from the 
pivot instead of drawing it to it. 

The best method is to carefully clean the jewels and 
replace them, not oiling until later, as will be explained. 

219 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

The surface of the balance jewel next to the cap jewel 
was at first made perfectly flat, but the best jewels now in 
use have a rounded surface, which has a decided advantage 
in oiling. This may be more clearly seen in Fig. II at a. We 
have a flat cap jewel and a flat balance jewel. These jewels 
should never touch each other, but should be so set that 
their surfaces leave a small space between them. It will be 
seen by the shaded portion the position the oil occupies; 
at b, we have a flat cap jetvel and a rounded balance jewel, 
the shaded portion showing the oil here also. In the first 
case, the pivot may be well oiled, but there is nothing that 




Fig. IV. 



will bring the oil to the pivot; in the second case, the oil 
at the end of the pivot is replaced with fresh oil by capillary 
attraction as rapidly as used, and the oil will continue to be 
brought to the pivot as long as any remains between the 
jewels. Fig. Ill is a photograph of a modern balance jewel. 

Now, let us consider the best method of oiling these jew- 
els. An objection was made to oiling the cap jewel before 
replacing it, and we cannot always depend upon the oil pass- 
ing through the hole in the balance jewel and reaching the 
cap jewel, even after the pivot enters. The following plan 
is one of the very best, you are sure of the oil being in just 
the right place, and a watch so oiled will run from six 

220 



CLEANING AND OILING. 

months to a year longer than one where the oil is placed 
on the cap jewels before they are replaced: First place a 
small amount of oil in the cup of the jewel as shown in 
Fig. IV at a. Then take a very sharp piece of pegwood and 
place in the hole of the jewel, allowing it to pass through 
and touch the cap jewel. This carries the oil through, and 



(@Z 



Fig. V. 

the moment the pegwood comes in contact with the cap jewel 
the oil will disappear from the cup, and it may be distinctly 
seen between the two jewels. We may now place some more 
in the cup of the jewel. I have seen several cases where 
oiled in this manner that the center of the cap jewel would 




Fig.iVI. 



resemble a series on concentric rings, those near the out- 
side being almost transparent, and growing darker and dark- 
er toward the center, thus showing the condition of the oil 
as it grew old and thicker. 

There are a great many kinds of oilers, some like the 
fountain oilers, some use pegwood, others the small gold 
ones, etc., but none of them seem to quite fill the bill. The 
one shown in Fig. V comes the nearest to perfection of any 
I have yet used. We have an ordinary gold oiler with a very 
small hole drilled through near the end. The hole should 
be about one-tenth of a millimeter, and the metal around 
the hole should be just enough to give the necessary strength. 

221 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

It will be seen at once that the oil will be held at the end 
of the wire by the capillary attraction and the moment the 
oiler touches a jewel or a pivot the oil at once enters the 
jewel, or remains on the pivot. I am sure anyone taking 
the time to construct such an oiler will feel well repaid after 
using it a very short time. 

It is a good plan to often clean the oiler by sticking it 
into a soft piece of pith. 

In oiling the escape wheel and pallets, I have found it 
best to do it about the last thing, while the watch is run- 
ning. Touch two or three of the impulse faces of the teeth 
with the oiler; by so doing the oil will only touch the pallet 
stones where the teeth pass over them, while if the oil is 
placed on the pallet stones the whole surface is liable to be 
covered. 

We often find some old movement where the plates are 
badly tarnished, and the process of cleaning mentioned will 
not brighten the plates or remove the tarnish. Such obsti- 
nate cases may be brought out almost like new by using 
some fine powdered rouge with the soap and water. It is 
surprising how their appearance will be changed by so do- 
ing. An article that is very helpful is a chamois buff, noth- 
ing more than a strip of soft chamois skin glued to a piece 
of wood. This is coated with rouge and is often useful 
for brightening up parts or removing tarnish. Another sim- 
ple article is the balance polisher, which can be easily made 
by bending a piece of wire and winding linen thread upon 
it. This is shown in Fig. VI. Rouge is used on the thread. 
The chamois buff should be kept in a paper case In order 
to keep it free from dust and dirt, as such particles would 
scratch the nicely finished surfaces. 

I will explain another method of cleaning which gives 
even better results than the method just explained. To those 
not familiar with the process they would say it would take 
too much time, but when everything is ready the work can 
be done in much less time than they would imagine. 

The equipment is a little more elaborate, and would 
have to be made, as nothing of the kind is now on the mar- 
ket. We will need four quart bowls, either glass or china, 
with covers on two of them; these may be easily procured. 

222 



CLEANING AND OILING. 

A copper dish similar to a small dipper holding about a 
pint, two copper cups with brass sieve bottoms and wire 
handles. These must be made and should be large enough 
that the largest size watch plates may be placed in them; 
to these add a piece of Turkish toweling, about ten by twenty 
inches in size, some castile soap and powdered borax, and 
our equipment is complete, supposing, of course, that we have 
a small gas burner that we can use for heating the water. 

We will proceed as follows: Take down the movement 
carefully, place the plates and larger parts in one of the 
cups with sieve bottom; in the other one place the wheels 
and more delicate parts. In my own work I usually clean 
two watches at one time, either a large and a small one, or 
an American and Swiss, the idea being to choose those whose 
parts are not at all alike or liable to be interchangeable. 

In bowl No. 1 we have cold water, bowl No. 2 is empty, 
No. 3 has the cyanide solution, same as before used, and bowl 
No. 4 has pure grain alcohol. We fill the copper dipper with 
water and place on the stove. While heating, shave up about 
a teaspoonful of the castile soap, add to the soap a tea- 
spoonful of the powdered borax. When the water boils, pour 
one-half of the contents of the dipper into bowl No. 2, then 
put the soap and borax into the water remaining in the 
dipper and heat again, watching very closely. As soon as 
it begins to foam, remove from the fire and take the cup 
with the watch plates and place in the dipper, and again 
heat the solution, moving the cup up and down in the solu- 
tion until thoroughly cleansed; the same thing is done with 
the wheels and smaller parts in the other cup. The borax 
and soap removes all of the dirt and makes the parts look 
like new. 

Now place the cups containing the parts in the dish of 
cold water. This removes all of the soap and borax. Next 
dip them in the cyanide solution in No. 3 just a moment, 
after which we place them in the hot water in No. 2. This 
removes the cyanide, after which we place them in the alco- 
hol in No. 4. The alcohol absorbs the water and the parts 
may all be quickly dried on the Turkish toweling, which has 
been spe3,d out on a flat surface, the pieces being placed on 
one-half of it, and the other half folded lightly over them. 

223 



r 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

The alcohol is quickly absorbed and everything will be 
found to be nice and clean. It is hardly necessary to peg 
out the jewels, but it is better to do so. Of course, by this 
method we must remove the cap jewels the same as with any 
other method of cleaning. 

Our brushes should always be kept exceedingly clean. 
We need a hard one for the coarse work and a fine, soft 
one for the more delicate work. It is a good idea to have 
two sets of brushes; then as one becomes soiled they may be 
washed and the other set used while drying. 

A new brush is too harsh to use, and should be prepared 
before using. Some remove the roughness by drawing the 
bristles back and forth over coarse sand paper. Another 
way is to pass the sharp edge of a piece of glass back and 
forth over the bristles; by so doing the bruch is rendered 
very soft and the bristles are more wedge shaped and very 
thin at the points. When so treated there is no danger of 
the brushes scratching the finished parts. 



.>\.Q0O0^' 



224 





WHY SOME WORKMEN 
FAIL TO SUCCEED. 



'^ 



"To fail at all is to fail utterly." 

Why do some workmen fail? Why does their work give 
poor satisfaction? Why are their customers always com- 
plaining? 

Is there any reason for such failure, for dissatisfaction, 
for complaint? Unfortunately there is; many of these reasons 
will be illustrated by photographs, no better way of showing 
the work which is the real cause of these failures can be 
used. 

Many a workman thinks because much of his work can 
not be seen "anything is good enough," as long as the watch 
will run. That is not honest, your customer pays for good 




Fig. I. 

work and he should receive it. There are so many little things 
requiring but a few moments to do properly, that many take 
a much longer time in doing and then it is poorly done, for 
instance, the simple matter of fitting a screw. It should 
take but a few minutes to make one that will fit properly 
and the work will be well done. I have seen men spend an 
hour trying to find a ready made one that woud fit, and even 
then it was not a satisfactory job; again, the threads in a 

225 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

plate become "stripped" and the screw will not hold, often 
the hole in the plate may be closed or bushed, correcting the 
trouble. The poor workman will pound the threads with his 
hammer, flattening the end, making it larger; it may hold 
for a very short time, but only makes matters worse. Such 
a screw is shown in Fig. 1, and was in actual use. 

We find some very amusing methods used to repair 
broken parts, one of the queerest that ever come to my 




Fig. 2. 



notice is that shown in Fig. 2, a click spring for a Swiss 
watch. It was broken and evidently the workman could not 
make a new one, so he tied the old parts together with 
thread allowing the two pieces of metail to lap a trifle| 

Sometimes it is necessary to repair certain parts by 
soldering with soft solder. When this is done, we should be 
very careful to thoroughly clean it of all acid, otherwise it 
will soon rust. Fig. 3 shows a broken piece that was poorly 
repaired by soldering in a piece of steel to replace the broken 
part, but it was not well cleaned and in a short time it was 
badly rusted, as plainly seen. 

Often in examining our escapement, we find the impulse 

226 



WHY SOME WORKMEN FAIL TO SUCCEED. 

faces of the escape wheel teeth are so high or low that they 
do not act in the center of the pallet stones; in American 
watches it would not make so much difference, but in the 




Fig. 3- 

Swiss where they have enclosed pallets, the tooth is liable 
to pass along the steel instead of the jewel; in all cases to 
have them correct, the center of the impulse faces should 




Fig. 4. 



be the same height; if the pallets are too low, they may often 
be corrected by placing a nicely turned washer of the same 
diameter as the pallet arbor between the shoulder of the arbor 

227 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 




Fig. 5- 




Fig. 6. 
228 



WHY SOME WORKMEN FAIL TO SUCCEED. 

and the pallets, the thickness being determined by the amount 
the pallets should be raised. There can be no objection to 
such work when well done, in fact, no one should be able to 
detect it unless very closely observed, but when a man does a 
piece of work like that shown in Fig. 4 by punching a hole in 
a piece of main-spring and making an excuse for a washer, 
which projects beyond the pallet arbor far enough that the 
teeth of the escape wheel will touch it and then expects a 
watch to keep time, it is about time for him to retire from 
che business. 

Fig. 5 is a good illustration of pure carelessness or a 
lack of judgment of the strength of materials. It shows an 
escape pinion upon which the wheel had been riveted, either 
the wheel fitted too closely or the punch was struck too hard 
for the leaves are badly distorted, and yet they tried to obtain 
time after such treatment. It is needless to say it was not a 
success. 

The escapement is the most important part and requires 
better treatment and more careful work than anything con- 
nected with our time pieces, and yet one would believe after 
inspecting Fig. 6, such was not the case. Here we have a 
chronometer escape wheel where a tooth has been inserted, 
soft soldered in place and filed up by hand. This is an actual 
case taken out of a marine chronometer supposed to have 
been used as a standard time piece by a jeweler. Do you 
wonder that it did not give satisfaction? We expect the 
finest work that can be done on chronometers, yet some will 
attempt to obtain a good rate with such poor workmanship as 
illustrated. 

The escapement is the "life of the watch" and requires 
the greatest care and skill in its adjustment; instead of such 
care and skill, we find more poor work here than anywhere. 
Fig. 7 is another illustration; here we have a club-tooth es- 
cape wheel, one of the teeth was broken and a piece of brass 
was soldered to the under side of the rim and the tooth filed 
to shape. It does not resemble the other teeth in size or 
form. I have known instances where teeth have been in- 
serted so nicely it would bother any one to detect them, and 
would give good satisfaction, which illustrates the difference 
between a good and a poor workman 

229 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 




Fig. 8. 
230 



WHY SOME WORKMEN FAIL TO SUCCEED. 

We do not often find a poorer piece of work than that 
shown in Fig. 8. We have a Swiss balance cock where the 
screws evidently did not hold in the regulator cap and the 
balance jewel was loose. These faults were corrected by 




Fig. 9. 



soldering on the cap and flowing solder around the jewel. 
The regulator was also soldered fast in the operation which 
rendered it useless, and there is no way of cleaning the jewels, 
and yet some one did such work and in all probability 
charged his customer for doing it. 

Several pages were devoted to the mainspring in another 
article on that subject, but recently other specimens of very 
poor work have come to me, such as Fig. 9. It is hard to be- 
lieve that any one could do such work, but it is a fact. From 
indications it would seem that the main spring would not 
hold on the arbor, so instead of putting in a new hook or 
dressing up the end of the spring properly, the inner end 

231 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

was soldered to the arbor as can be plainly seen, the spring 
soon broke. 

Fig. 10 is equally as bad. It is hard to tell what was done 
in this case. . The spring is much too thick, has only six 




Fig. lo. 



coils and nearly fills the barrel. It was too wide and the 
edges have been filed down, notice also the style of fastening 
on the outer end, a pin passing through the barrel and head 
and the end of the spring bent around it. How can any one 
do such work? They surely can have no conscience, but 
many such workmen seem to prosper while the more con- 
scientious ones do not. 

Perhaps none of the work is as poorly done as pivoting. 
We find some cases where the pivots are not in the center, 

232 



WHY SOME WORKMEN FAIL TO SUCCEED. 

where the shape is very poor, where the shoulders are not 
square and occasionally where pivots have been ground to a 
point. Several illustrations of the work will give us an ob- 




Fig. II. 



Fig. 12. 



ject lesson that should be effective. I trust none of my read- 
ers will recognize any of their work. 

No work done by the ordinary watchmaker presents as 
great a variety of quality as that of pivoting, from this, one 
would judge the task is a very difficult one to perform. It 
does require considerable skill to replace a broken pivot in 
such a manner that it cannot be detected, but unless it is so 
done, the work is not satisfactory 

In Fig. 11 we have a photograph of a pinion that has been 
pivoted. The shoulder of the pivot is not square and no part 
of it is well polished. The temper was drawn and the color 
was never polished off. 

233 




Fig. 13. 




Fig. 14. 
234 



WHY SOME WORKMEN FAIL TO SUCCEED. 

At Fig. 12 is shown a pivoted staff. The pivot is not in 
the center, it is not cylindrical but is very much tapering, and 
the cone is badly formed, while the end which should be flat, 
comes nearly to a point. 




Fig- 15- 

We have in Fig. 13 another pivoted staff. In this case, 
the cone is split, the plug does not fit properly and the gen- 
eral finish is not workmanlike. 

There is no more common fault that causes us trouble 
than that shown in Fig. 14. The original pivot perhaps was 
long enough but not having the necessary end shake, was 
ground back until it was too short to pass through the bal- 
ance jewel and reach the cap jewel; it must then bind on the 
cone; this is the cause of many watches acting poorly in one 
position and well in the others. All pivots having cap jewels 
should pass through the balance jewels far enough that the 
cap jewel will force it back enough to free the cone. 

About as poor a specimen as I have seen is shown in Fig. 
15. How any one could let such a piece of work leave his 

235 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

place of business is very hard to understand, but the results 
accomplished could be easily guessed. The pivot shown in 
Fig. 15 is very bad, but the staff illustrated in Fig. 16 would 
go in about the same class There are no square shoulders. 




Fig. i6. 



no shape to the pivots, in fact, there is but little resem- 
blance to a staff, yet even this was in use for some time. It 
may have been made by some beginner, even in that case he 
should have made a different use of his practice work. 

Many workmen do not understand how to harden and 
temper a piece of steel wire so it will make a good pivot. 
They nearly always leave the steel too soft and it bends easily. 
This is well shown in Pig. 17. The pivot was very small and 

236 



WHY SOME WORKMEN FAIL TO SUCCEED. 

the steel was quite soft, the watch evidently had a fall, the 
pivot did not break but was badly bent. 

The pivot of the pallet arbor shown in Fig. 18 is about 
as poor a specimen of square shoulder pivots as one often 




Fig. 17. 

finds, but some one tried to get it to do the work of a pallet 
arbor. 

Many good workmen while cleaning or repairing a watch, 
will take out the balance wheel or some of the other wheels 




Fig. 18. 



after they have been oiled and lay them carefully on the 
bench paper, then as they put the movement together again, 
handle them again with the same care and yet they have 
failed to observe one of the most important points. No mat- 
ter how carefully the bench is cleaned and dusted, there are 
always particles of dust in the air and they soon settle on 

237 




Fig. 19. 




Fig. 20. 




Fig. 21. 
238 



WHY SOME WORKMEN FAIL TO SUCCEED. 

the paper; a pivot covered with oil will gather up much more 
of this dust than any one would imagine. Place such a pivot 
under the microscope and you will not be surprised that some 
pivots are soon worn nearly through. Fig. 19 shows the par- 
ticles of dust on the end of a pivot that was perfectly clean 
before touching the bench paper. Unless such a pivot is al- 
ways thoroughly cleaned with a piece of pith in order to re- 
move this dust, it will be carried into the jewel by the pivot, 
and soon the pivot will begin to wear. 

Many are very careless in polishing pivots and fail to 
keep them round. I have found many that were nearly flat 
on one or more sides like the one in Fig. 20. It is unfortunate 
that anyone would try to use a staff when so mutilated. 

Some workmen seem to think pivots that are cap jeweled 
should have pointed pivots. They evidently get their idea from 
some of the alarm clocks. To illustrate, Fig. 21 shows the 
arbor of a pivoted detent used in a pocket chronometer. The 
whole escapement was cap jeweled and was a very nicely 
made movement. It was a disgrace to put such an arbor in 
a fine timepiece of this kind. After the new arbor was made, 
it performed its duty again as well as ever. 

A peculiar method of fastening a jewel is shown in Fig. 
22. A graver has been used to dig up the plate around the 
jewel in order to make it hold, not a very elegant method. 

There are many causes for a watch having a poor rate 
that are not so much the result of poor workmanship as care- 
lessness, yet in one sense carelessness is poor workmanship. 
One may neglect to oil a pivot and in a short time it will 
begin to wear and cut until it is ruined and can be of service 
no longer. Fig. 23 shows the top pivot of a staff so badly 
worn that there is but little left of it. The side shake in the 
jewel would be excessive. Often in cleaning, a worn pivot is 
overlooked; every pivot should be examined carefully with 
a strong glass and polished when necessary and a new one 
put in when badly worn. 

The pinion shown in Fig. 24 has the pivot badly worn. 
This was caused by not being well oiled; a pivot will not cut 
when properly oiled, but will run a great many years without 
perceptible wear, but the moment it gets dry, the wear be- 
gins. 

239 




Fig. 22. 




Fig. 23. 
240 



WHY SOME WORKMEN FAIL TO SUCCEED. 

A point that is often overlooked is the wear occasioned 
by the teeth of the fourth wheel acting against the leaves of 
the escape pinion, in some cases nearly one-half of the thick- 
ness of the leaves is worn away. This changes the depth 
between the two and the watch will stop and before one is 




Fig. 24. 

able to open the case, it is liable to start up and may run for 
hours before it will stop again. In some cases the fourth 
wheel can be either raised or lowered, so the teeth will act 
upon a part of the pinion that has not been worn and will per- 
form as well as ever. If this can not be done, the only 
remedy will be a new pinion; a pinion that had to be replaced 
by a new one on account of being so badly worn is shown 
in Fig. 25. 

We often find a brass jewel pin that poorly fits the notch 
in the lever, set in the roller, then we find one that is not 

241 



MODERN METHODS IN HOROLOGY. 

set square and very often we find one that is much too small 
to fit the fork. These are very important things, as much of 
the motion is dependent upon this small part of the escape- 
ment. Often the jewel pin will be loose and escape our notice, 
this too will cause poor motion. 

It will be impossible to enumerate all of the causes of 
poor motion in watches or to tell of all the poor work that has 




Fig. 25. 

been done that would give bad results; it would require a 
large book to tell them all, but enough has been shown to 
cause the conscientious workman to stop and think, then I 
am sure he will act, and in the future avoid doing poor work 
or allowing any to leave his bench that is not his very best. 
If every one would only do his best in everything he does, 
we would soon have a better quality of workmen and much 
less trouble with our work. 

If the pages of this book have been the means of en- 
lightening some of my fellow workmen and causing work 
that was formerly difficult for them to accomplish to be done 
in a quicker and better manner, if they are able to produce 
better work with the same effort as before, or if some 
thoughts expressed, will enable them to give better service 
to the public in general, the writer will feel fully repaid foi 
the time and labor expended in writing them. 

THE END. 



242 




POCKET SUN DIAL. 



243 





OLD CLEPSYDRA OR WATER CLOCK. 



245 




247 




CANDLE CLOCK. 



249 




LAMP CLOCK. 



251 



INDEX. 



PAGE. 

Preface 3 

Portrait of Mr. Grant Hood 

Old and New Methods of Measuring Time... 7 

Time Service of To-Day 13 

Iron and Steel 29 

Wheels and Pinions 39 

The Balance Staff and Its Measurements 57 

Jeweling 69 

Pivoting 81 

The Balance or Hair Spring 91 

The Lever Escapement 113 

The Main Spring 159 

The Compensating Balance and Pendulum 167 

The Cylinder Escapement 181 

The Duplex Escapement I95 

The Chronometer Escapement 203 

Cleaning and Oiling... 213 

Why Some Workmen Fail to Succeed 225 



253 



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For Jewelers, Horologfsts, Opticians and Siluersmlths 
Everywhere. 



TSSTTED MOXTBCLX. 



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AND SOUTHWEST, 

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CORRECT TECHNICAL ARTICLES 

IN THE HOROLOGICAL AND 

OPTICAL DEPARTMENTS. 



SUBSCRIPTION, Si.oo A YEAR. 



Address all covuniinicatio^is to 

The Kansas City Jeweler and Optician, 

20S Missouri Building, Kansas City, Mo. 



AUG 16 19C5 



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